OtherLand
by Trogmorten
Summary: Jia-Li, a single mother, whose husband died at the war, buys her son and herself 'second life' in  attempt to move on and find new love and a new life beyond her husband's death.Meanwhile her and her son's lives begin to change, whether they like it or not.Odd squad included.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1-**

**A/N-** this was a major plot bunny interfering with my other fic, "Red Valleys". I will be writing them both at the same time (oh the horror!). Hope you like the beginning.

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><p>[I think that there are many 1\2 prince fics that look only at the young-rich-beautiful-misunderstood teenagers that find comfort in second life, and although some of them are really good, there are some that are really pointless, so I wanted to bring my own spin to the many different uses of second life]<p>

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><p>A warm summer breeze blew softly into the small store as the door opened with a welcoming jingle. The books arranged neatly on the clean shelves, the small sofas that were scattered in the far left corner of the shop all radiated a welcoming vibe.<p>

The lean shop clerk lifted her head from a book that was currently laying comfortably in her lap, and smiled softly at the new arrivals.

"good morning" she greeted the three teenagers that entered her small shop, "do you need any help?" she asked politely.

"no thanks" one of them waved her dismissively as they looked at the newly published books that were organized on a table in the center of the shop.

Jia Li smiled polity and dived back into her book. Customers usually had the tendency to come in the best parts of the plot. She peeked at the girls who now gathered near the fantasy sector, looking at the new-and-very-popular vampire trilogy that was on display.

The scents of their flowery sweet perfumes filled the small shop, making the characters that were having a fierce fight against the great forces of evil in Jia Li's book make a funny turn into those three girls. Only with great big swords.

Her imagination was frustrating some times.

"Jia Li! Good bye, see you next time" greeted an old man as he left the shop, a magazine folded under his arm .

"Good bye mr. Shui! have a nice day!" she greeted in return. The old man came every week at the same day at the same time, to sit in her little shop and read the new "Literature weekly" magazine he'd buy from her. He was very nice, although he looked a bit lost most of the times. He was one of her first customers and a regular one. He was once a well known professor for literature at XXX university.

He was the one who suggested that her book shop could be a small library too, and to her great surprise it turned out to be quite a hit at T city, making her small book shop popular with most of the students who studied at the university nearby, and a couple of the literature teachers too.

It was a slow day, with a few customers passing by from time to time, greeting her warmly and checking out the second hand book racks she put out side her shop earlier that day.

She looked at the wrapped book that waited under her desk. It was a rare edition, and in excellent shape too. The pages were slightly yellow around the corners, but she knew he'd like it. He loved the smell that those old pages emitted.

Her train of thoughts was suddenly disrupted when she heard a familiar name whispered among the three teenagers, that were trying to look at her without her noticing.

"…..they really look alike...look at her...and his eyes...isn't she Kuan Yin's mom?..she looks really young..." she heard them whispering among themselves.

They did look her son's age..no more than 15 years old, already walking with such short skirts, she eyed them critically.

But then again, who was she to judge them for wearing those, when she wanted to wear these kind of cute-frilly clothes herself..

"excuse me, miss? do you know Lang Kuan-Yin ?" one of them asked her.

"yes, I am his mother" she stated matter-of-factly, when the small group burst into small giggles.

"tell him Xiu-Mi says hi" one of them blurted in between giggles.

"Jian!" yelled of them clearly Xiu-Mi by her deep blush ,pushing the other girl playfully.

"Oh lighten up!" snorted Jian as she and the other girl walked toward the door.

"sorry for the intrusion" they bowed toward her and left the shop.

And as they left entered a tall lean man, smiling brightly. His short black hair a bit messy, eyes shining, he looked very handsome.

"Gui Wen!" greeted Jia-Li happily.

"do you really have the book?" he inquired excitedly. She huffed in fake annoyance"and here I thought you came to see me, you ungrateful man".

"im sorry Jia..i was so excited when you called me I rushed here as fast as I could.." he rubbed his head.

Jia Li took the wrapped book from her table and handed it to him, "you owe me big time" she added, when he snatched the book from her hands, carefully peeling the blue wrap, revealing a golden cover with big curly letters.

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><p>They both sat at a nearby coffee shop, hidden behind blooming bushes.<p>

"I still cannot believe you managed to put your hands on this copy..and in such great shape" said Gui, "how come you did not take this copy for yourself?"

Jia Li's smile dimmed a bit, becoming pained "i still have the copy Yul-Jun bought me before he left..".

"im sorry..i didn't mean to intrude like that" said Gui, looking guilty for bringing up the subject.

"it's no intrusion, you were his friend too,and it has been 8 years since the war" she smiled weakly, and then punched his shoulder lightly and smiled.

"I am a big girl already! Bigger then you! So stop treating me like that, or ill tell your parents, you little brat!" she laughed as he pretended to be mortified.

"you big old telltale! its only a seven years gap! And if I am a little brat you are an old hag!" he stated haughty, taking a sip from his tea, as if proving a point.

"so.."she started again "how are the new students? I was really happy to hear you came to XXX university. It is an odd choice though..".

He hummed in agreement and said, "it was a rather random choice, really".

"what do you mean by rather random...?"

"I took all the job offers, and threw them in the air, the one I caught was chosen, and here I am!".

He laughed at her bewildered expression.

"seriously?"

"yup."

"you came here by accident you big jerk! And I thought you actually missed Kuan-Yin and myself!" she huffed at him as they payed the bill and walked toward the small book shop.

He looked very amused "you are the one who never has time to see anyone, always busy with your shop" he poked her cheek.

"humf!" was her only replay as they entered her shop, re-opening it after her short break.

They settled behind the counter, each of them opening their books, reading for a short while.

"….hey Jia, are you still into video games?" inquired Gui, "there is a new game coming out in a week..um..what was it called..?"

"you mean 'second life'?" stated Jia with a smile.

"yea that one, it made a load of commotion lately, and I think ill buy myself one."and after a moment of pause he added "Buy one too! You can revive 'Jia-the-magnificent'!" he laughed.

"don't bring her up..it was a complete embarrassment, and I only called her that because Yul-Jun liked it" she smiled "although I do miss that game...when I finally managed to climb up to lvl 100 every one moved on to a different game" she pouted.

"they say 'second life' will be 99.9% realistic, and you only play it at night when you sleep, so it wont interfere with the shop, you workaholic" Gui added.

It really was tempting..she thought about buying it for Kuan-Yin for his birthday next week. And she did deserve a treat once in a while.

"I think I will" she finally said.

"thats great! I can introduce you to Lee Tian Lang! He said he will buy the game too." said Gui with a smile. He lifted his head from his book and looked at the clock.

"Oh for the love of- I am gonna miss the bus!" he said hurriedly, slinging his bag onto his shoulder.

"Bye Jia! see ya'!" he shouted after himself as he ran toward the bus station at the far end of the street.

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><p>It was mid afternoon when she decided to close the shop for the day. A weak breeze played with the hem of her long black skirt and with the long strands of her brown hair. She tucked her hair behind her ear and climbed the stairwell that hid behind her shop, leading to her apartment on the second floor.<p>

Kuan-Yin went to a friend's house to do his homework, and she had the apartment all for herself for a couple of hours.

Not that she had anything special to do while he was gone, she thought.

She really did needed a hobby, and the new game Gui suggested sounded rather nice.

She took off her shoes and entered the kitchen. The white counter was sparingly clean and the pans and the pots were arranged neatly on the shelves.

An elegant blue vase with small pink flowers stood on the small table next to a small wooden frame with a picture of a young smiling man that couldn't have been any older then 25.

"im home honey" she greeted the man in the picture and smiled softly.

She loved that picture of Yul-Jun, she had taken it before the war, in the park they used to take Kuan-Yin when he was little. He looked so happy at that moment, they were both so clueless and unaware that a couple of months after that picture was taken Yul-Jin's squad would be attacked in an abandoned house.

She didn't know what took over Yul-Jin to make him jump on the grenade and save the rest of his squad.

What made him leave her all alone with a six years old son.

She felt a tear rolling down her cheek. Yul-Jin was brave. The bravest man she had ever known, and the stupidest one.

She pulled out a frying pan and started cutting some vegetables for a stir-fry. It had been eight years since his teammates and their commander knocked on her door . She was still wearing black. She still shied away from other man, and felt guilty when she thought about anyone other then him. Gui Wen told her she was punishing herself, and that Yul-Jin wouldn't want her to lock herself in the little bookstore they had opened together when Kuan Yin was just a small baby.

She smelled something burn and cursed out loud. The vegetables were burnt completely. She looked at her attempt at dinner, and suddenly anger welled within her. She grabbed the pan and threw it with everything she had at the small table, sending the frying pan, the vegetables, the small blue vase she bought last summer and the framed picture to scatter and break on the floor.

She was openly crying now, there was no one to see her cry. She was mad. Mad about the stupid vegetables for burning, mad that her vase broke, mad at Gui for not thinking of her for the last couple of months,mad at Yul-Jin for leaving her so hurriedly, and mad at herself, for being so stupid, for locking herself up in between the pages of her beloved books, for growing her hair long for so many years, just the way _he_ used to like it.

She was so mad she felt so lonely.

And she felt stupid.

For lying down on the kitchen's floor crying her heart out because her dinner burned.

And she stayed there a couple of minutes, breathing shakily, wiping her eyes with a napkin. She started picking up the shreds of glass and porcelain, the pictures frame was lying upside down. The wood was broken, the glass too was shattered.

She started crying again.

mattering comforting things to herself she fumbled around to find another frame, extracting Yul-Jin's picture carefully from the ruined frame.

She felt a sharp pain in the palm of her hand. A long lean cut stretched across her palm, ebbing with fresh blood, staining the ruined frame and the picture.

Her first aid kit was lying downstairs in the shop.

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><p>The sky started turning red as the sun set beyond the skyscrapers of T city.<p>

Jia-li wrapped her hands with white comforting bandages, and she was now sitting in front of her computer, buying to sets of game-helmets, and pre-ordering 'second life'.

Kuan Yin will be so happy.

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><p><strong><span>AN- please comment\ review me!**

The button is right there!

You know you want to!

By the way Jia-Li is 32 years old, and Gui is 25 years old, while Kuan Yin is 15..? and Yul-Jin was 25-26 when he died.

Just to clear the confusion- Gui is not a love interest for Jia, because I simply love how he pines for Prince. poor Gui, unfortunately for him I love wicked too.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter2-

Jia-Li woke up to the concerned eyes of her son.

"mom...? are you alright?"

she hazily woke up from her nap spot. She was sitting in the kitchen and she had fallen asleep on the table, next to the new frame.

Her back ached and protested as she stretched it and got off her sit to hug her son.

"yea honey..everything is fine..."she mumbled, remembering her outburst earlier that afternoon. It was already dark outside.

"but you are a bit late, how come you came so late? You said you were studying with a friend, and its 8:35 already!"she scolded.

Kuan Yin looked a bit embarrassed, a slight blush covering his face as he spoke.

"I..umm...run into a friend on the way home...and I didn't see her for a while so I stopped by to say hello and it kinda stretched to two hours.." he said, still blushing.

Jia Li lifted her eyebrow and smirked at her flustered son, holding his arms as she ended his warm hug.

"its a 'her'...now now lover boy," she laughed a bit as his blush darkened "a cute girl named Xia Mi wanted me to tell you she said 'hi' today at the shop...you have got a thing going on there don't you?" she kissed his cheek lovingly and ruffled his hair a bit.

"you hungry? I tried making a stir fry..but it didn't go well..we can call that noodle shop you like and order something if you'd like". She said absentmindedly as she started washing the big pan that stood in the sink.

He scratched the back of his head, his blush toning down.

"yea sure, whatever..dad has a new frame, why?"

Jia paused for a while, and then continued to wash the pan with big circular motions.

"I thought it was an old frame...and I wanted a change..doesn't it look better in this frame?" she asked.

He looked at the frame for a bit. It wasn't very different from the other one they had in shape but the colors were different. The new one was blue, unlike the dark older one.

He looked a bit annoyed.

"I don't like the new one" he said and exit the kitchen.

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><p>The rest of the week passed by quickly, Jia was busy with the shop as usual, and now with the new rare books she had managed to put her hands on she was becoming even busier.<p>

She loved every moment of it.

She had enough money to buy the small closed shop next door and turn it into another part of her shop.

Students, teachers and other people stopped by more often to look at the new verity of books she put on display. Her small shop was slowly becoming a popular spot to sit and have a little break from the fast flowing rhythm of life, and Jia too was slowly forgetting her own problems and sorrows.

Business flourished and Kuan Yin's sixteen birthday was approaching.

The hot summer day's started to make way to the cool breeze of autumn. The leaves on the trees that surrounded the shop were turning from green to beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow, and a fleeting feeling of melancholy filled Jia as she closed the shop at the late afternoon of a cool Monday. A momentary breeze blew the long brown strands of hair to her face and as she huffed them back into place a tall man was running towards her.

He stopped in front of her, leaning on a nearby tree he seemed to run quite a while to reach her book shop.

"Can I help you, sir?" asked Jia.

The man lifted his head, a pair of round small glasses sat crooked on his nose, and he smiled.

"I came for the book..? the Babylonian bible? A reservation on Tai?" he said in between breathes.

"Ahh, yes,"she assured him with a smile,"please come with me". Jia re-opened the door and went behind the counter to look for the right package.

"Tai Ning Kuo?" she looked at him questioningly, holding a big wrapped package in her hands.

He smiled and nodded as he reached for the package.

"Thank you very much! I have been looking for this version for some time now.. its very hard to find. I was very surprised when my colleague told me you had it in your waiting list." he held the book closer, bowing to her, "thank you for your efforts, mrs...?"

"Lang, miss Lang Jia Li," she said, "and if you don't mind I really have to go now.." she smiled apologetically.

He jumped in his place and smiled, embarrassed,"look at you, helping me, and all I do is interfere," he laughed as he exited the shop, accompanied by Jia. He turned toward her "Again, thank you very much, good day" he bowed and turned to leave.

"it was no problem at all!" she called after him.

And she was late, if she didn't run the game center will close before she retrieved Kuan Yin's birthday present, and her-hopefully-new-hobby.

Night had already fallen upon T-city as she entered the apartment, trying her best to hide the big suspicious bags she had brought with her from the game center.

Kuan Yin was napping soundlessly on the white couch, the dirty dishes he had eaten dinner with stood in the sink while a set of small bowls with some rice, fried fish and cooked vegetables stood on the table, waiting for her to return.

Jia tucked the shopping bags deep in her closet, and set quietly on the chair in the kitchen.

She ate slowly, a bit sad she had delayed on the way home.

Kuan Yin was a good cook, just like his father, she smiled softly.

She sat on the arm of the couch where Kuan Yin slept, watching him with wonder. He became so mature, growing up to be a fine man. She patted his head gently, waking him up. He looked a bit hazed as his sight focused on her.

"..mom...?"

"hey honey...sorry for being so late..had some trouble with a package back at the shop.."

he sat up slowly, "i left you dinner on the table.." he said, yawning.

"yea, I saw. It was delicious, thank you." she said softly." why wont you go to sleep in your bed, its a new day tomorrow, and you'll your strength at the math test".

His face twisted with dismay.

"bluh, math..." he muttered as he stood up and made his way to his room, leaving Jia sitting on the arm of the couch.

She stared at the air for a few minutes and went to wash the dishes, greeting Yul Jun as she entered the kitchen.

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><p>Kuan Yin's birthday went as planned, many of his friends came and left the small party they held in their home. After the last guest had left and Jia cleaned the small mess the party made, she set Kuan Yin down on the sofa. It was a little late, and Kuan Yin was a bit sleepy but a smile was still plastered to his face.<p>

Jia gave him the box, concealing the 'second life' logo.

"Happy birthday honey" she greeted and kissed his cheeks lovingly.

Kuan Yin took the box and ripped the wraps off it.

His eyes widened with surprise and happiness as he pulled out the 'second life' helmet.

After many happy thank-you's and some hugs Kuan Yin headed happily and sleepily to his room, preparing to start his new adventure.

And so did Jia.

Adjusting her alarm clock and slipping into a pair of loose slacks she snuggled underneath her covers. The 'second life' box seemed to wink to her from within her closet.

She set hesitantly in her bed, pondering what to do, when she finally gave up and took the helmet in her hands. Her twisted reflection seemed to stare at her, making her confidence slip away.

She huffed at her own insecurities and pushed the helmet on her head, logging in.

at first every thing was completely dark, and Jia thought that maybe she had done something wrong. Walking a bit in the dark she suddenly saw a ray of light heading toward her.

She was blind for a moment when she heard a gentle masculine voice greeting her.

"hello, welcome to second life!" said a tall handsome NPC that sat on a big egg-like sofa that floated in the air in front of her.

She stared at him. Technology seemed to jump several light years ahead of her.

"please wait a moment while I commence the infrared and sound wave scan" said the NPC, "from now on when you'll put on the 'second life' helmet you will be able to start playing immediately".

He smiled at Jia that looked a bit confused," you are now ready create your avatar" he said, "but I must warn you, to make the game as close to reality as possible every player gets one character only, and once the character creation is complete your name, your race and your looks cannot be changed!".

The light expanded further revealing a black and white tiled floor that seemed to stretch on forever.

"first choose the race you like" said the NPC, and as he said it several avatars popped into existence." the races are all basically divided into human, elves, dark elves, dwarfs, celestials, elementals and beasts. Please choose the one that suits your liking the best, you will not be able to choose again".

"I know, thank you".

Jia looked at all the avatar races.. she used to be a human when she played with Yul-Jun..

"show me all the humanoids please", asked Jia. the Npc nodded and with a puff of white smoke all the humanoids were left before her.

It was her game, right? She could choose what ever she wanted...it didn't matter what she had played before.

"can I be an angel?" asked Jia hesitantly, and with a puff of smoke an angel stood in front of her, her characters had two long lean wings with crimson and golden feathers, much like a phoenix. It was beautiful, and she loved it.

"I want my hair to be shorter" she said "and in a deeper brown then mine" she added.

"and make my eyes golden if you can" she smiled. She was having so much fun, and her character was so unique.

She re-modeled her character giving it many small different traits, like long elf like ears and slightly slanted eyes.

"do you want to beautify it by 30%?" asked the NPC.

"beautify? But look at her she is so pretty! I thought you already had!" she laughed with delight, "maybe by 10%, I don't want to draw too much attention toward me..".

Her character was perfect now.

"what name would you like to give your avatar?" asked the NPC finally.

"I don't need a new name, Jia Li will be just fine. I am me, right?" she smiled at the NPC who seemed to blush a bit.

Maybe it wasn't an NPC.

He coughed, trying to cover his blush, "your statistics will be randomly chosen by the game's system, I will locate your birthplace in the central region," he smiled at her as the room started darkening, "my name is Gabriel, PM me if you'd like" and her vision darkened completely...only to be blinded again by a strong flash of light and a soft thud, as she landed to the central continent.

And then her alarm clock went off, and she logged off, sorry she couldn't continue her new adventure.

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><p>Jia woke up. The sun was barely beyond the horizon, and the sky were still a bit dark.<p>

She looked at her alarm clock, it was 6:30 am. And her day started.

After sending Kuan Yin to school, and cleaning the house a bit, Jia stood in front of her closet, trying to decide what to wear for work for the day. Her usual long black skirt was in the washing machine, still wet because she had forgotten to put it to dry last night.

Standing with a white turtleneck and a pair of white lacy underwear she couldn't decide. She didn't want to wear a pair of pants, because they were not comfortable in her position at the shop...yet the other skirts she had were above her knee.

It was nearing 8:30 when she finally gave up and took a modest black knee length skirt, with lean white stripes on it.

She didn't have time to be annoyed with her appearance as she hurriedly did her hair up to a small loos bun and put two small flower like earrings.

She ran outside, nearly forgetting the keys to the shop, and hurried down stairs.

There were a couple of people already waiting, mostly professors from XXX university who wanted a quite place to start the morning with.

She apologized for her delay and opened the shop.

She organized the books that were supposed to be taken that day. There was two new packages ordered by the same person.

Tai Ning Kuo.

The man that was running late the other night.

She heard a small jingle and lifted her head.

Mr. Shuai came in the door and smiled at her.

"you look very pretty today Jia Li," smiled the old man, "did you do something with your hair?".

Jia Li smiled brightly but declined, and handed him a fresh copy of "literature today".

"you look better." he stated and walked slowly to a small couch in the new section of the library, where she now kept the expanding literature section.

The day passed by unevenly. Kuan Yin passed by the shop to give Jia Li a small box filled with rice and some cooked chicken breast.

Customers went and left, making Jia Li very busy. To her dismay Tai Ning Kuo didn't come for his books yet. And the hour neared 8:30. she really wanted to go home, to explore the new continent.

The last customer had already left, and Jia was arranging things for the night and Tai Ning Kuo did not make an appearance.

It was his problem he was late, again. And it was time for her to go home.

She locked the shop and went up the flock of stairs, not noticing the figure running toward her shop.

But it was too late, she had already entered her house.

* * *

><p>Slipping her helmet on, she woke up to a green valley. Jia stretched her wings, admiring their beauty as the artificial sun hit them and made them glow.<p>

There were small blob like things hopping all over the small valley. Throwing away any decency she might have had, she stormed toward one of them and kicked it as hard as she could.

With a small yelp the blob exploded, spraying her with green-jelly-like substance.

She wiped it off her face,collecting the small loot that fell from the creature, when suddenly an enthusiastic voice shouted **"Jia Li defeated a green slime monster! +30 Exp! You are now Lvl 3!"**.

ho no! Did she have to hear that annoying voice all the time? Frowning she calles "Game options!" and a screen openedin front of her,"announcer voice off!" she called.

A gentle feminine voice asked "are you sure? Please voice confirm your request.".

"announcer voice off!" and then she thought again," announce only level-ups!".

"your request is being taken care of" said the voice, and the screen closed.

Jia smiled, and continued to fight the slimes, kicking them across the green fields, collecting some money that fell out of it and the green-jelly-blobs.

She kicked a particularly big jelly, and as it bounced across the grass it didn't die. The blob turned to her, opening it's mouth and roaring a deafening roar, the jelly turned red, many small jellys gather next to him, as if lulled to him by his angry cry.

And than they merged , turning into a huge re blob. The blob towered above her and roared again, blowing her away.

The blob was hopping near her, trying to crush her underneath it, as Jia grabbed a near by log and threw it at the blob, hitting it and inducing its health points that showed in a small meter above its head. Jia dodged again and attacked the blob with sticks and stones. The blob roared angrily, its health meter showed it was about to die, a small shiny thing started pulsing in the blob. Jia catching a sharp stick charged toward the blob, using the memento created by her wings to make jump on its head and when she landed, she stabbed its head, hurting the glowing thing inside it. The blob thrashed and moved but Jia carried on, stabbing it repeatedly. Suddenly the big blob burst and Jia was dropped on the ground, landing on a big pool of red slime. There was a small glowing object in front of her, the thing that gave life to the great red blob.

She inched toward it and with a last pulse it popped like a bubble, leaving a long big sword lying on the ground.

The sword had a big red jewel in its base, stretching from her shoulder to the tips of her finger, a red rope dangled from its base, and there were a few golden ornaments tangled in the rope.

"**you've acquired the vengeance of fire!..."** and as the enthusiastic voice she thought she had got rid off continued rambling she looked at the sword with awe.

"Such a sword...? from a blob?" she muttered.

"not just any blob" said a masculine voice behind her, startling her, "the red blob boss, it's quite rare actually.".

There,leaning on a tree stood an elf. His ears were longer than her own ears, he had white hair that reached his shoulders, a straight strong nose and two slightly slanted eyes that all created a predator-like air to him. He was well built, and there were two curved swords on his back.

"I am hawk, nice to meet you."

she just stared at him.

"I was looking for this boss for a while now, guess ill just have to keep looking," he laughed," that was a nice technique you used there, an impressing jump, nice use of your wings". Jia was still quite, it was all a bit weird to her. Here she was, holding a magnificent sword, sitting in a pool of slime and grime, and this Hawk guy appeared out of the blue.

"did the blob eat your tongue?" he smiled.

"no," she frowned and stood up, " I am very capable of using it, thank you very much." posing herself she wiped a bit of the slime out of her face.

"Jia Li, pleased to meet you" she said and stretched her hand forward, offering it to him for a formal shake.

He looked at her hand, as she realized it too was covered in slime and bits of blob.

He took her hand and shook it with a smile.

"want to go get it again? I heard its easier to kill it in pairs." he smiled.

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><p><strong>AN- I am growing very fond of this story...**

**please review! And tell me what you think about her!**

**thank you for the first person who favorite this fanfic!**

**Please tell me of any ideas you think will work for this fic! And ya' know. Review. Because its good for the soul~.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3-**

**A/n**- this is taking forever…

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><p>Jia felt happy. Happier she had been for quite some time now. Going around, slaying any monster that came into their line of sight, they were both leveling up with great speed.<p>

Targeting a rather large wolf that sniffed a nearby tree, Jia whipped her hand up, using _vengeance of fire_ to slice the poor monster in two. Blood sprayed on her face and on her tattered beginner's clothes, their yellow- green color losing its brightness into a more red-brown grimy mess. She wiped her face with her hand, creating a bigger mess.

Hawk picked up the loot that fell from the enemy and smiled.

"You really like fighting don't you?" he asked while cleaned a portion of his face with a white handkerchief he had in his pocket for no apparent reason.

"It's not the killing I like, it's horrible…but it's a good stress reliever." She smiled sadly, and took the handkerchief from his hand, wiping her bloodied face.

"I'll wash this for you later," she said as she folded it and put it in her pouch," can we go to the near city..? I feel rather filthy in these…and I think I leveled up a lot..Maybe there are good things at the stores!". She looked around her, deep in thought.

"Now which way should I go…?"

"You never saw the beginner's village yet? It's a half an hour walk to the north from here…"

He looked at her questionably "why don't you use your wings to fly? I saw you using it in the fight against the big blob to enhance your jumping range."

Jia looked a bit embarrassed," actually...I chose to be an angel so I will have these wings…I am actually afraid of heights…that's why I took them in the first place." She looked up hopefully, seeing a very confused face.

"I don't follow…you took these wings, because you were afraid..?"

She nodded.

"well, it's always good to conquer your fears" he said with a sigh, looking at her angelic form. She was beautiful as an angel; her wings stretching behind her, illuminating the grass and trees behind her with it's bright colors.

"Come on grab me."

"E…Excuse me?" Jia blushed.

"Grab my shoulder, lets fly to the village, it's not far away."

"Will I be able to carry you there? You seem rather heavy…"

Hawk made an offended face, "well excuse me miss-have-wings-and-doesn't-fly-scaredy-cat, for being heavy!" he winked at her. She smiled in return and tucked some stray hairs out of her eyes behind her ear.

She circled her arms around his chest from behind, as if she was hugging his back lovingly.

"Hold on tight fatty" she mused as her wings stretched to their full length. Flapping them repeatedly the couple rose above the trees.

Hawk smiled, "you did it! Now go that way!" he pointed to the north.

"what way…?" Jia asked hesitantly.

"that way. Can't you see- Jia! Open your eyes right now!" he shouted angrily.

Opening her eyes slowly, the world started spinning violently, and Jia started breathing in and out quickly, full of fear.

"_Oh my god !oh my god! oh my god! oh my god! oh my god! oh my god! oh my god! oh my god! oh my god!"_ she yelled. Her wing gave up to her hysteria, making them fall quickly from the sky, Jia screaming with fear all the while.

"Hey, crazy lady! Flap those damn wings of yours and pull yourself together!" Hawk ordered in between terrified screams, and to his great surprise the long wings started beating repeatedly, saving them from a close acquaintance with the ground.

He breathed slowly, making her imitate him.

"Now listen to my voice, turn 45 degrees to the left...your other left." He corrected, trying very hard to suppress his growing annoyance.

"Now, don't close your eyes, you need to see where you are flying to, 'kay?"

Jia nodded, confidence sneaking into her heart, and as they moved swiftly through the sunny skies, she was finally able to enjoy her view.

The land stretched before them. The grass was dotted with many colorful flowers and herds of NPC animals were roaming the land. She could see a small village in the distance, just where Hawk said it would be.

After five minutes, some satisfied grunts from Hawk and a very shaky landing, they reached the beginner's village.

Jia was amazed by the sheer mass of players that roamed the streets, their colorful hair colors and their races.

All the while Hawk watched her with timid amusement, walking by her and talking about the stores and explaining to her some of the rules of second life she didn't know.

They stopped in front of a grand fountain, the sun was still in the sky, as if the hours she had spent playing did not matter a bit.

"come" said Hawk after a while they have been watching the water in the fountain, and the large rainbow koi fish that swam lazily about." Let make you a real warrior" he smiled.

He dragged her across the city's square, shoving a few people who stood and gaped at the beautiful buildings. They entered the armor shop, Falcon did most of the talking with the NPC incharge of the warriors class, handing him 10 wolf claws from Jia's pouch and 10 from his own loot.

"**Program Notice: Player "Jia Li" and player "Hawk " had entered the warrior's guild!**" Announced an over enthusiastic announcer.

The beautiful smile that blossomed on Jia's face was dimmed as she heard Her alarm clock going off loudly in her room.

Hawk looked at her dimming smile with worried eyes.

"whats the matter Jia? Didn't you want to be a warrior?" his eyes widened as he started thinking he had pushed her to a guild she did not want to be a part of, "-i am so sorry Jia I didn't mean to-"

"its not that," she cut in, and smiled at him," I just have to go.. and wake up."

"oh.." he said, a slight blush covering his face at his assumptions.

"I want to see you again" she said, her eyes lowered.

Hawk put his hand on her shoulders, using one of his hands to pull her head up.

Jia looked at him, and suddenly she felt very embarrassed at the intimate feeling his actions conveyed.

He smiled as she looked away," you wont get rid of me that easily".

With a small cough she logged off, leaving Hawk standing alone in the shop, while a few people whispered among themselves. With a small 'pop' noise, he was gone too.

* * *

><p>Her alarm clock fell to the floor. The small beeps being cut abruptly.<p>

Her morning routine seemed even duller than usual.

Waking up.

Taking a shower.

Dressing up for work.

Making breakfast and food for Kuan Yin.

Kissing him goodbye.

Cleaning.

Closing the house.

Opening the shop.

She was feeling under the weather that day, and the weather itself wasn't helping her feel any better.

For no apparent reason lots of female-students decided to come visit her shop that day, but when they came there they merely took a glance inside, as is searching for someone, and left. They sky were already darkening, and the setting sun colored the sky with its blazing colors. The shop was empty but a few customers who were reading at the back. Jia clutched her head. She knew it now. She was sick. She hated being sick. It was so inconvenient. She was shivering slightly as the door opened.

Suddenly Gui Wen entered hastily and stood still behind a wall for a couple of minutes.

Jia was about to ask him what was wrong when a flock of girls came running to the shop. They looked through the glass window and passed on to another shop.

"Popular." she whistled at him, her mood brightening for a minute.

He smiled apologetically and looked at her, "they won't leave me alone; I have to disappear after class, like this" he snapped his fingers" if I want to make it in one piece back home".

He sat in the free chair that stood next to her and hugged her shoulders.

"are you feeling well?" he asked her. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes watered.

"do I look like I feel fine?" she mumbled to him, laying her head on his broad shoulder," I have been stuck here all day long, dealing with customers and handing out deliveries," she pointed at the packages," only this man keeps missing his deliveries. He orders about three books last week, and he never comes to take it." she huffed, annoyed.

Gui picked up one of the packages.

"what's his name..?" he asked.

"Tai Ning Kuo. He is the only customer who buys these old rare books and never comes to pick them up. He pisses me off.".

Gui laughed and looked at her, as she straightened in her seat.

"you pissed off? I hardly believe." he laughed.

She pulled her shoulders,"yea...I can't really get pissed at someone any more" she smiled.

"but he is getting there.

"will it be helpful if I take these to him..?" Gui offered," he is a teacher at XXX university...he teaches Bible lessons and Psychology...it's a bit weird he's missing his due-dates."

"as long as he takes these I don't care" she mumbled between good-byes to the last customers of the day.

She stood up and walked toward the sofas at the back, putting the books back onto the shelves.

"You look good"

Jia turned toward Gui.

"what?"

"I said you look good. Better than the last time I saw you. The skirt suites you, it's better than those long gloomy black skirts you usually wear". He pointed at her blue skirt, and then at her hair, and a new pair of glasses that sat proudly on her nose," your hair looks very good in this bun, and your glasses are new, not like the pair Yul Jun bought you years ago." he stated as a matter of fact.

She didn't know if she was supposed to thank him or be insulted of what he had previously thought about her.

"I don't know.." she said, dusting off a high shelf," I feel...happier lately. And the new game set is really fun-"

"you bought second life?"he looked at her with great surprise.

"yea...? you were the one who recommended it to me." she said defensively.

"this is great! Why didn't you tell me? I have a character there! Where are you? What are you? You are a warrior right?" and as his questions poured out she felt her power draining away.

"do you want to get a cup of coffee?" she cut in.

* * *

><p>fifteen minutes later they were both sitting in the apartment, holding two mugs full of coffee. The shop was closed early for the day. She looked at the clock, and it was only 6:00 o'clock. Kuan Yin should have returned already from school.<p>

Jia put her mug down on the kitchen table and picked up the phone, tapping her son's phone number.

He picked up after a few moments.

"H.."he cleared his throat "Hello?"

"hey honey, where are you? It's getting late" she asked worriedly.

"I already told you I was studying at a friend's house." he said.

Jia frowned, he was never rude to her.

"Fine," she huffed," but don't come home too late". She could hear a boy talking in the background, calling Kuan Yin.

"Are you at Lee's house?"

"I won't be late, don't worry, bye mom" he said hurriedly and hung up.

"Hello?" she repeated.

"I don't know what is wrong with him lately", she told Gui who waited for her at the table.

"he's been acting weird lately…very on edge.." Gui nodded and took a sip from his cup.

Clearing her throat she sat in front of him, taking hold of her cup, smelling the swirling steam that floated from it.

"I'm in central continent right now…in the beginners village. Hawk and I just joined the warriors guild."

"_Hawk _and I?" asked Gui lifting his eyebrow questionably.

* * *

><p>Gui had already left, and Jia was sitting by herself on the couch, reading her book. The sky was already dark and Kuan Yin was still out. He called half an hour ago, saying he will be home in ten minutes.<p>

Jia was worried for him, she was unable to focus on her book, and the characters seem to say again and again "where is Kuan? Where is Kuan Yin?".

She looked outside the window, there were still people out at the street. An old man was walking slowly, using his cane to support himself; a group of girls were striding hand in hand, brushing past the him. There was a young couple standing under the yellow street light. The boy was standing with his back to her, and the girl, a bit shorter then him, she had a very short haircut, and jet-black hair. She reached out with her hand and put it on his shoulder, and murmured a couple of things to him. He seemed a bit distracted and he fiddled with his green sweatshirt.

Her hand came up to his cheek, and he finally looked at her. She stared at him for a moment and suddenly she pushed herself onto him, and kissed him gently.

The boy was taken by surprise and stumbled back, pushing her off him. He seemed very angry as he shouted at the girl who sank a little bit where she stood.

With some angry gestures he whirled around and started pacing away from her along the street.

Jia looked away. She felt as if she had just pushed her nose into a very unpleasant moment. Suddenly a new wave of nervousness washed over her.

Where was he?

She picked up the phone and dialed his number.

The phone managed to ring once when the door opened, revealing Kuan Yin.

"hey mom." He said, took off his shoes and went to his room.

Jia looked after him, she heard his door close and his music turned on.

Putting the phone down, she sighed deeply and curled back on the sofa with her book in hand.

* * *

><p>Jia sighed again.<p>

"you know that they say that every time you sigh, a little piece of happiness just disappear from the world?" stated Hawk smugly.

They were both currently making their way toward star city for the first time after departing the beginner's village. _Vengeance of fire_ was safely strapped to Jia's back, using the tiny hooks she had on her newly acquired armor, as she flapped her golden wings with a heavy heart. Hawk crossed his arms and sighed as well.

"Now there is even less happiness in the world Jia, look what you are making me do."

She looked a bit ashamed of herself, her hold around his torso tightened for a moment.

"I'm sorry Hawk …" she sighed.

"Don't do that! No more sighing! You'll forget how to breathe and drop me into oblivion! now tell me what is wrong with you."

Hawk couldn't see her face softening and her eyes warming for a second before they turned back to the dull color they have been displaying for the last couple of days.

"it's my son," she mutters sadly, " four days ago he came home really late, and I was very worried for him. I think that there is something bothering him. He doesn't eat much, and he is mostly in his room or out with a friend…he is very on edge lately, and he puts an invisible wall between us that I can't seem to cross.."

"you have a son?" Hawk looked surprised.

"obviously, didn't you hear what I just said?"

"how old is he, anyway?"

"sixteen" said Jia, she had forgotten that she never told him about Kuan Yin before. They had only known each other for the past two weeks.

Hawk pondered for a minute, while she was lowering them to the ground as star city came closer to them. He cleared his throat.

"Can't you ask his father for advice?" he said with a weird tone.

Jia's eyes emptied, the spark slipping away from them as the touched the ground in front of the city.

"His father is dead." She states with a hollow voice.

Hawk seems to be taken back by her reaction, but he keeps pressing on.

"a partner or a boyfriend you might ask?" he lifts his eyebrow.

She lifts her eyebrow as well.

"not really, no… are you planning on helping me or question me about my dull love life?"

Hawk just laughs a bit and shakes his head to Jia's confused amusement. He takes her hand in his own and leads her into the city, suggesting a wide range of suggestions starting from girl-problems to unstable bowel movements.

His smile widens as her laughter lifts the heavy worry that rested upon her shoulders up to that moment.

He drags her through the beautiful city, unaware of the eyes that were landed upon them.

And even if he did, he wouldn't care. He was about to show her the stars.

* * *

><p><strong> A\N<strong>- I know… a bit corny 3. This took me forever to write due to the surprise attack of my life. that bastard….. I study at a school of arts and I have my finals in art to prepare to…..and my exhibit… (I am so excited!). it might take some time for the next chapter to come out (I have my finals at everything, really. You name the class, I have a test about it in the next few weeks.) but it will be out here ! I am already writing it, and I have a grasp of the current plot.

I 3 you Hawk . You handsome chunk of a man.

Well…you know..the button is right there - review! (you know you want to!).

(thank you very much for the reviews! the name mix-up is now gone! Hawk is Hawk!)

and someone asked me if we will see Kuan Yin's game-life...we will, in time. not a lot of time, but in time  
>3 (he has somethings...to attend to at the moment..)<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

A/N- there is no way I wrote this in a day and a half…I wasn't lying about my tests..i really do have them…

* * *

><p>They had been walking around the city's beautiful street for what seemed like hours to them. Joking around, Hawk had taken it upon himself to make her forget her problems. He was in a middle of a very loud punch line when Jia suddenly stopped on n her tracks and looked a bit surprised.<p>

A man was tossed to the other side of the street by the impact of another player's punch. He was grinning an advancing toward the other player, who was slowly rising to his feet.

Jia looked a bit confused at the violent display. She started walking toward the injured man, confusion and disbelief showing on her features. Hawk was still behind her, and he couldn't see the utter disbelief she showed as the younger player had finally reached the older one, and punched him yet again

Hawk came to stand next to her and suddenly her face twisted with anger, her fist crawled around the hilt of her sword and tightened until her knuckles were white.

Hawk looked at her with surprise; he never saw her getting pissed of like that before.

Was it something he had said?

She lunged herself forward with a single powerful flap of her golden wings, and slammed the hilt of her sword painfully into a player's head nearby.

"No one hurts my friend without consequences!" she shouted. The other player fell to the ground with a surprised yelp, blood dripping from the side of his head, staining his white hair with crimson. He stood up abruptly and tried to hit Jia with his long thin black sword. a few female players screamed in surprise. Falcon was hurrying up to her with worry and confusion written all over his face.

"Who the hell do you think you are, lady?" said the elf as he patted his head to check for injuries.

She pressed the tip of her sword to his throat and hissed at him "who the hell are you to beat my friend up?" She moved to the left and picked from the ground an unconscious player. His white robes were dirtied and his long purple hair was ruffled and out of place.

"I am Prince" he said confidently and flashed her a dazzling grin. She could see a group of people hurrying their way toward them. A little girl was riding on the back of a big beast man wearing robes, behind them trailed two female players and a small meatbun that bounced up and down.

"Well Prince, I don't give a damn" she said, and with a fast motion of her wrist _vengeance of fire_ plunged into the arrogant player's chest. Bewilderment was written all over his smug little face as he turned into a beam of light and was sent away from there.

" Hawk, let's go!" she said and started flapping her wings. He got the message quickly and started running to the direction she was now flying to, holding her knocked out friend in her arms.

He could hear that guy's-Prince- teammates shouting angrily behind them but they soon subsided.

They were a quick team. He ran for ten minutes, trailing Jia's flaying form in between the rooftops, he was having a hard time to figure her sudden fury. After a long run she had landed in a dark ally, the player she was holding was starting to wake up. He looked around and he looked a bit delirious.

"Your Highness….?" He mumbled.

Jia looked at him with great concern, her hand cradled his head, and she was kneeling close to him, checking him for bruises and cuts. A gesture that did not slip away from Hawk's eye.

"Gui, how are you feeling?"

"where am I..? where is Prince?"

Jia looked a bit surprised, " the guy that beat you up?" . at that Gui looked a bit embarrassed, a small blush creeping to his cheeks.

"I killed him."

Gui's eyes flew open with shock, "YOU DID WHAT? You KILLED his Highness?"

Jia looked confused and a bit angry at his weird reactions, "Well yes, obviously. He beat you up so bad you lost consciousness IN GAME." She remarked.

Gui got up from the floor slowly, suddenly he looked very tired and very worried.

"He is gonna be so pissed…." He mumbled and turned to Jia, "it was just a…game..we both play. No need to worry about it" he waved toward her. Her face reddened with fury. "no NEED to worry about it, Gui? Are you crazy? Why do you even let that brat touch you? Where is the fearsome archer I used to know from _'Rune world'_? Huh? He is just a stupid arrogant little b-"

"-don't call him that." He cut in, his voice gaining a sharp edge.

Jia huffed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes, and looked at him with a measured gaze.

"I was only worried for your well-being, Gui." She said, her tone turning comforting and warm, much to Hawk's annoyed surprise. He was feeling very out of the conversation the two were having, talking about previous games, they sounded very close.

But he stayed put and stood behind Jia as she continued her debate with her bard friend.

"He is very dear to me, Jia…I didn't feel this way since….since Anora left".

Wait…who is this Anora person? Wondered Hawk. The name seemed to surprise Jia very much. She took a step forward and looked at him with sincerity, her eyes questioning him.

He only looked back with a small embarrassed smile.

"Then I shall apologize to him" she stated, leaving Hawk with great confusion. They just stared at each other and suddenly that searing fury and swiftness she had showed was gone. Hawk's lips tightened to a thin line and his eyes narrowed a bit.

* * *

><p>They arrived at the rebirth point, to find a very angry Prince and the odd squad- as Gui told them.<p>

The little girl that was resting on the beastman's shoulders looked frightened to see Jia coming after Gui.

"watch out! It's the crazy lady! Prince-!"She shouted with a high frightened voice as Gui cut in swiftly.

"There seems to be a slight misunderstanding here, so please calm down, Doll." He said, smiling reassuringly to the girl- Doll. The beast man lifted a bushy eyebrow and looked pointedly at Jia.

"Please do tell" said a cold authoritative voice from behind the beast man. A female human with long black hair appeared and stood in front of the Beastman, hands crossed and eyebrow lifted with doubt.

"Jia here is a dear friend of mine," said Gui, and looked at Prince who was standing quietly behind his friends, looking hard on Jia with a weird expression. " She thought I was being harmed and sparng into action….Jia, tell them.."

Jia took in a deep breath and bowed toward Prince.

"please forgive me Prince, I was…_mistaken_.." she paused," I thought Gui was being attacked, when _obviously_ it was just a friendly quarrel. " she cleared her throat and stood up, looking Prince in the eye.

"I am very sorry for hitting you, and for stabbing you. Will you please forgive me?" she asked him, her eyes conveying her sincerity.

Prince looked her up and down, from her pointed ears, and her form to her elegant wings that were crossed on her back. He rested his chin on his palm and looked at her weirdly. Gui started fidgeting in his place, keeping his hands occupied with a strand of his long purple hair.

A big grin broke Prince's hard gaze as he stepped forward and poked jia's scrawny shoulder.

"That was one hell of a maneuver you did there with your wings, I never thought such a scrawny woman can handle such a beautiful sword" his grin widened at her bewilderment.

"Sais a short thin elf wielding similar sword" she retorted and crossed her arms across her chest, not before jabbing his shoulder in return.

The whole group seemed confused at the sudden change of winds, Gui looked on the brink of tears.

"Your Highness! So gentle! And brave! And smart! And beautifu-"squealed Gui before Prince's punch collided with his pretty little nose.

Jia's eyes opened with shock over his violent nature and her hand was itching to grab _Vengeance of fire_ and run it through his thick head.

But she promised.

Gui collected himself from the floor, and with an unfazed smile he rushed back to embrace Prince. A thing that earned him a well-aimed kick.

Jia looked away.

The whole group seemed to relax and they all started to make way toward the large gate of the Rebirth point. All was normal for them it seems. She made her way toward Hawk, who waited outside the large gate, leaning on the wall in front of it.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around only to face a dazzling smile from Prince. She lifted an eyebrow, questioning him. Seeing his trademark grin did not faze her even a bit he put his hands on his hips.

"Would you like to spar sometimes?" he asked, "it has been a while since someone managed to send me here, or rather attack me in such a head-on attack."

Jia looked over her shoulder toward Hawk.

"Ummmm.."

"Unless it makes your boyfriend mad, I wouldn't want to get in ANOTHER lovers quarrel, I have enough girls fawning over me" he said with a quick glance toward Hawk, who made his way toward them.

At his statement she only looked a bit confused.

"He is not my boyfriend, just teammate." She stated.

"Who is not your boyfriend?" inquired Hawk that came to a full stop next to her, his arm resting lazily on her shoulders. He shifted his gaze to Prince, as if he measured his abilities with his eyes.

"You are." She said, his arm slipped off her shoulder to his side.

"Anyway," Jia continued," I'd love to—"

"You'd 'love to'- what?" Hawk inquired suspiciously.

Jia frowned at his multiple interruptions, and huffed.

"Hawk, please." She said and turned toward prince," I'd love to train with you sometimes. PM me when you feel like it.".

With a smile she turned toward Hawk and Gui that appeared behind him out of thin air, probably to tap in their conversation.

"Good morning to all of you."

And with that she logged off, only to wake p in time to stop her alarm clock before it went off.

* * *

><p>"I really like you…" she trailed off and looked at him straight in the eye, but he averted his look. An NPC deer was eating grass nearby and a few Giant yellow bee monsters were buzzing about in the distance.<p>

"Xiu Mi….."

Flushing with embarrassment, Kuan Yin looked very troubled.

Her eyes were starting to fill with tears and her hands were twisting around her magical staff, she looked down with shame, a curtain of her silver long hair shielding her from his troubled gaze.

He quickly grasped her hands with his, making her lift her head with wonder.

"It's not I don't want to…" he trailed off, "I really like you too." He smiled.

"But I just….can't right now" he looked around, and looked worried. With a shaky breath he leaned down and planted a small kiss on her cheek.

Xiu Mi was about to say something when Kuan Yin dropped her hands at the first sight of another player who made his way toward them from between the trees.

As he came to the small clearing they had sat in, Xiu Mi got a clear look of him. Two penetrating blue eyes that seemed to glow even in the bright light were a bit hidden in between the deep blue strands of hair that surrounded his face. He was rather feminine; thin and lean, and about her own height. He was wearing a tight black suit with pieces of armor on his chest, knees and on his shoulders. Two large daggers were strapped on his back, accompanied by a large white scarf that he used as a cowl.

Kuan Yin seemed almost afraid by how close he was standing to her and took a couple of steps back as he looked worriedly at the approaching player.

"Lee…."he mumbled.

Lee looked at him.

"Who is this?" he asked, looking at Xiu Mi suspiciously.

She was taken aback by the hostility he showed toward her. With a small bow toward him she whispered.

His hands settled on his hips and he raised his eyebrows, his head tilted to the side a bit.

"What? I couldn't hear you, little mouse."

Xiu Mi's face grew hot, big tears made their way to the grass as she glanced at Kuan Yin.

With one desperate look he mouthed something to her, and she seemed to brighten a little bit. Lee's eyes narrowed with renewed hostility.

"Speak up, mouse." He snarled at her.

With an angry look she shot toward Lee and a small smile directed only to Kuan, she left.

The wind blew playfully, playing with the edges of his blue robes, a large quiver and a sculpted bow lay comfortably between his shoulder blades. A long braid that started near his forehead hanged near his elbows, black like his real hair. Like his father's hair.

Lee didn't like it that much. He thought that a fair hair would have suit the archer image Kuan Yin was trying to achieve.

"Who was she, _Izmir_?" he inquired, emphasizing the name Kuan chose for his character.

"Just a friend, Lee" he said, "no one special" he added.

Lee seemed to catch on the elusive tone he was speaking in, and frowned. He looked at the direction Xiu Mi had disappeared in.

"I don't like her" he stated with a bored tone .He flung his arms around Kuan Yin's neck, hugging him tenderly as he planted a chase kiss on his Lips with a grin.

Kuan Yin only shudders a bit at the forced display of affection and patiently peels off his companion, taking a distance he was comfortable with from his friend.

"Stop it Lee."

"But I love you Kuan." He says.

"Don't play around" he stated angrily and avoids another kiss from Lee.

He looks longingly toward the open field where Xiu Mi went.

"I have to leave" Kuan says quickly and walks toward the field.

Lee only pouts a bit, his hands returning to their familiar place on his hips.

"I'll be waiting, Kuan. See you at school".

Kuan grants him with a grunt as he logs off.

Taking his helmet off, Kuan has a sudden urge to cry.

* * *

><p>With two eggs sizzling in the pan in one hand and a steaming cup of tea in another, Jia was making her way to the kitchen's table. Yul Jun's picture sat idly, watching his wife fiddling with the plates. She was in a very good mood this morning and she decided to make a nice breakfast for Kuan Yin and herself.<p>

She put the pen down. She took the small picture and stashed it away in a cabinet. She didn't want the food to stain the new frame. The truth was that she was starting to take Gui's words seriously. She really did lock herself up in her little house in between the decaying pages of the books she loved.

Once she got a taste of new adventures. The thrill she got when she fought Prince, the beauty in flying, acquiring a new friend like Hawk, she was starting to regret her insecurity concerning Yul Jun.

She took a strand of her long brown hair and passed it in between her fingers. Yul Jun always loved her hair.

Sprinkling the food with some salt and adding some sugar to her tea she left the table toward Kuan Yin's room. Before she had the chance to knock on the door, it swung open to revile her son. With dark circles underneath his eyes, ruffled hair and a frown, he was everything but happy.

"…mornin' Mom…" he mumbled and dragged his feet across the floor toward the dining table.

He plopped down on the nearest chair while Jia served him so toast and scrambled eggs.

"I think I'll get my hair cut today" she mused out loud, "what do you think Kuan? Won't I look pretty?"

He took a bite out of his buttered toast and a small portion of his scrambled eggs, Jia only managed to take a small sip of her fruity tea when Kuan noticed an important detail.

Dad wasn't at the table.

"Where is he?" he asked Jia, not answering her quastion. She noticed his edgey-ness and looked at him over her cup.

"In the cupboard."

She only looked at him, feeling a bit more courageous that morning as she held his gaze.

He stood up abruptly, his chair fell down behind him, cluttering on the floor. He walked behind her to the kitchen and slammed the cupboard open, extracting the small portrait of his father into the tensed environment.

He took his plate off the table and threw it in the trash. Meanwhile Jia sat and drank her tea calmly, although she was very upset over his actions.

When he was done with his little fit of anger, he took his school bag that waited for him next to the door.

He was about to leave when he turned around toward his mother and placed the small picture in front of her.

"It's not all about you, what would _he_ think?" he spat; the door flew open as he stormed out.

"I'm sleeping at Lee's tonight."

And with that last comment he slammed the door shut.

Jia barely managed not to choke.

* * *

><p>AN- I am a bit proud of myself. This chapter was a plot bunny….and I did not expect to get Lee into the story so soon, but it felt right. Thank you for reviewing and caring enough to show me you are there! I thought I was beyond hopeless!

Say, here is a question. What would you rather- 1) brother 2) professor or 3) engineer?

This is directly related to the upcoming chapters so please tell me what you think…wich one is better?

Please review!

3 I will smack Kuan's head for you! (he deserves it a bit, no?)

Btw- would some one like to beta me? i will be foreve greatful!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5-

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><p>"4444…well that is unlucky, all hope fades, Prince" Jia smiled and threw a sly wink at the frustrated player; she only laughed when Prince poked her cheek with a desperate expression. Prince's scowl deepened, he seemed to ponder about her remark, "Pshhh! I don't need luck! I have skills!" he boasted, his scowl changing inhumanly fast to a satisfied grin.<p>

His other teammates didn't look so sure.

"We are team number 4456" said Hawk who leaned comfortably on the wall, sharpening his hook-swords.

"I didn't know that you signed" said ugly wolf, "I thought only registered teams can compete for the grand prize".

"We are fighting the smaller tournament, it is taking place after the group matches." explained Jia with a smile.

"Is it even worth it?" Prince butted in." I mean, why waste your energy when the grand prize isn't as awesome as the grand tournament's prize?" he said, eyeing her ," and with your scrawny little form you will barely be able to lift your sword, it's a lost match already!" he laughed and avoided a punch directed to him from Jia.

Prince hid behind Gui, a thing he was getting accustomed to. Jia wouldn't hit Gui, therefore he was the best shield from her rage.

"Come here little boy. I'll show you how scrawny I am! Maybe practice my weak sword arm on you?"

"Now now... We wouldn't want to damage our chances at the prize, wouldn't we?" said Gui, trying to calm them both.

Jia huffed and tugged her armor a bit. She wasn't all comfortable with the new one, made out of fine sturdy leather. There were at least a thousand laces holding the damn thing on her with an iron grip.

"I will go see who our opponents are." Said ugly wolf and turned around, Jia quickly strolled beside him. They both walked through the huge crowd, ears ringing with the sound of many players laughing and arguing.

The rapier _Vengeance of fire _was strapped safely to Jia's back in between her wings, cladded with black cloth to prevent the long sword from cutting its owner. Two shiny new spaulders rested on her shoulders, just waiting to be used.

Ugly wolf, two heads above the crowd, saw the board first.

"Team 540... Team Perfect princess?"

"Wolf! What is it? I can't see you!" Jia was squished by the players swarming toward the board. She couldn't see anything at all. She was hit by the players who stomped across her. Pulling herself up, she pushed her way toward the board, hoping Ugly wolf will notice her absence and seek her out.

And then the blow to her head came.

The world spun as Jia was pushed to the ground by a passing player. Her head throbbed in sync with her heartbeats; she felt warm blood ebbing from the cut on her forehead sticking her hair together. She pushed her way toward the opposite side, wanting to put a distance between her and the crazed players. She felt the wound close, but she was already dirtied with her blood.

"Jia?" she heard a voice call in front of her.

"Wolf, god damn it, took you long enough to see I was gone—"

The player standing in front of her was the complete opposite from the beast man. Long heavy blood red curls pooled down from a very handsome face. A large bow was strapped to his turquoise robes and a golden ornamented quiver too.

Jia could only gawk at him but, her brain would not let her remember his name.

"Do I know you?" she asked him, confused.

"You never PMed me like you said you would" said the stranger with a small smile, his eyebrow rising elegantly. He waited a couple of moments, exchanging a humored look in exchange for Jia's confused ones.

"The name is Gabriel. Ring a bell?"

"You!" Jia let a startled cry, pointing at the human archer in front of her. "You were an NPC!"

"Now that's just a wild accusation," he laughed, "while I am a very real-not-an-NPC player, I did help you design your avatar. Although you seem to take little care of it" he pointed at her bleeding forehead.

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><p>Walking back to the location where odd squad and Hawk were waiting, jia could feel Gabriel's eyes on her. She could see the large shape of Ugly wolf stomping round and round worriedly and the rest of the team throwing questions at him.<p>

"…at the road!" said Doll

"Maybe you lost her in the crowd!" suggested Gui, who looked worried.

"Maybe she just went to the lady's room?" suggested prince with a shrug, which earned him a well-aimed smack on the head from Lolidragon and a dirty look from Hawk.

"Hey!" shouted Doll and pointed at Jia that made her way toward them with Gabriel "there she is!" Doll sprinted toward them jumping up and down, and then leaping into Jia's arms.

"You made us all worried!" she accused and pouted. Jia smiled at her reassuringly. Doll reminded her of Kuan Yin when he was still a young boy. He used to be so happy and energetic. It all seemed to fade away that year.

Soft tapping on her forehead pulled her out of her musing. Doll was busy cleaning her wound with a small pink napkin.

"I am so sorry Jia! I never saw you disappear until you were gone!" said the beast man, who looked very ashamed of the situation.

Jia smiled reassuringly and patted him on the shoulder- a very challenging mission with his towering height and the small girl in her arms.

She felt a slender arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Who is the bishei?" whispered prince in her ear, motioning with his finger to Gabriel, who stood a couple of meters behind them, watching the scene with interest.

"Oh! Gabriel, come here!" she motioned for the archer to come closer, "Everyone, this is Gabriel a…friend of mine. I stumbled upon him when I got separated from Wolf".

The pause didn't escape Prince's eager pointy ears. He nudged her and winked secretively at her.

Hawk cleared his throat and stood in front of Gabriel, eyeing him suspiciously, while Gabriel put his hand out in a friendly manner. Hawk smiled a sharp smile at him and took his hand, shaking it firmly. They both stood there for a couple of moments, as if they were trying to break each other's fingers when finally Gabriel let go and directed his smile to the group who looked at the exchange with mild amusement.

"It is very nice to meet you all" he said formally with a bow "Any friend of Jia is a friend of mine". He seemed to eye Hawk, who threw a very dirty look his way.

Pulling Jia to the side he spoke to her on a privet line. Hawk watched them both from afar as the Odd squad members went on with their business. Jia's wings were half spread, creating a semi-barrier from Hawk's praying eyes.

Gabriel took Jia's hand in his own and kissed it to her immense surprise and to Prince's amusement, which stood on the sidelines and watched Hawk's facial reactions change.  
>Jia's wing fluttered as Gabriel turned and left the area, throwing a small salute gesture toward Prince and Hawk.<p>

"That's some friend you have got there Lady" whistled Prince.

To Hawk's dismay she only blushed bit and shook her head as a response.

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><p>"Just leave your bag next to the door, Kuan, it's not like my parents are here to scold me or something".<p>

A fact Kuan was very aware of as they climbed the stairs at Li's house.

"You know you can always come here." Said Li, "_They_ don't really care what I do anymore, really." Waved Li dismissively. His parents weren't the loveliest couple.

"Do you want a cup of tea darling?"

Kuan only shrugged.

Li took the bag away from his clutching grip and put it next to the bedroom's door. Snaking his hand around Kuan's arm he pulled the boy to the kitchen and seated him in one of the chairs while he boiled water in a pot and fixed Kuan with a slice of rich chocolate cake.

Kuan looked around the quite house. The house was far larger than his mother's small apartment above the shop, the furniture were nicer too, although they all seemed cold, as if they weren't used often.

"Kuan, your tea will get cold if you keep staring into space." Chirped Li as he placed a mug filled with hot tea in front of him. He poked kuan lightly on the tip of his nose and chuckled.

"You are such a cloudy head today sweetie".

Don't call me sweetie.

Don't call me darling.

I want to go home, Kuan sighed.

"Thank you for letting me stay here for the night Li—"

"Oh, come any time you'd like darling! You know I like having you around" Li interrupted.

"—It won't be for long, just today...Maybe tomorrow too…" finished Kuan lamely.

Li looked at him for a long while, studying him. It unnerved Kuan greatly.

"Stay as long as you want." He said and pointed at the steaming cup.

"Come on. Drink it while it is still hot, and the cake won't bite you. I made it myself."

They both sat in silence as kuan ate his cake and they both finished their tea. The house was completely silent but the sad long sounds a clock made in the living room. Li put the dirty dishes in the sink and gingerly took Kuan's hand in his own, motioning him to follow.

Li's room looked as if it was on an entirely different universe than the rest of the house. All the walls were covered with posters of those old singers Li adored, most of them of lady what's-her-face. Kuan didn't really know. He wasn't a fan. The sheets were wrinkled like someone jumped off them, a couple of old comic books and novels were piled on the floor next to the bed, and lots of papers with drawings were lying across the floor. He saw a photograph of them glued to the wall in front of the writing desk. Li was kissing Kuan's cheek; the picture caught his surprised smile as Li snickered at the back, his arm draped around Kuan's shoulders.

Li came back into the room, carrying two pillows and an extra blanket.

"Do you have anything to sleep in?" he inquired as he threw the pillows and the blanket on his large bed and jumped on it himself. He was already wearing a pair of blue loos pants and white T-shirt.

Kuan felt his face heat. He nodded took his bag and went to change.

He entered the bathroom, locked the door and entered the shower. Kuan fished his phone from his bag, trying to be as quite as he possibly could. He looked at the small screen. Should he call his mother…? He left abruptly that morning, and he felt a bit ashamed of his behavior. It wasn't completely her fault he was on edge... No. she can stew a while longer. True it wasn't completely her fault, but she had a hand in it. Punching the familiar numbers he knew by heart he waited for her to pick up the phone.

"…Hello?" Kuan heard the sweet soft voice of Xiu Mi, and he sighed happily. Her voice had a wonderful soothing quality.

"Kuan, is that you?" she inquired happily, "I was just about to log in second life, you remember our meeting at the green plains, right?"

"Listen, about that, I can't make it today. I am really sorry, I got myself in a bit of trouble." He whispered to the phone.

Xiu Mi immediately stressed "Where are you? Are you okay? Do you need help? What happened?"

"It's fine, It's fine. Just had a fight with my mom, and i…eh…forgot my set at home, I didn't want you to think that I forgot about you".

"Oh." she replayed. Kuan could hear she was calmer and a bit flattered that he went through the trouble of calling her. He liked her so much. From her soft soothing voice to the way her brows knitted when she was confused, and the light sparkling in her eyes when she was happy.

A knock came from the door.

"Kuan, everything ok? Do you need anything?" asked Li's muffled voice from the other side of the door.

"Kuan, who is it? Who are you staying at tonight?"

"Xiu Mi, I really can't talk right now. See you tomorrow at school. Bye"

"Bye Kuan, sweet dreams" she replayed quickly before he hung up.

He hurriedly pushed his phone back to his bag, took off his shirt and pulled on his sleeping pants. "Kuan? Are you in there?"

He heard Li trying to get in the room.

"Li, I am alright" he opened the door, "I just need to find my shirt"

He felt Li's eyes fix on his bare torso, as he seemed to forget the fact Kuan was secretly talking on his phone in his bathroom.

Li cleared his throat and looked away, very aware of the blush creeping to his cheeks.

"Come, I'll give you one of my dad's old shirts" he said, taking Kuan's hand in his own, motioning him to his parent's room.

Kuan felt a shudder fly up his spine.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p>"All of your allies are already defeated by us. You're the only one left!" said Prince. He wasn't even bloodied as the fight went surprisingly quickly. He stood in front of Perfect Princess, stretching his height to its maximum, shadowing the female player in front of him.<p>

"So…? Going to forfeit?" Asked Prince, a small confident smile plastered on his face and a raise of an elegant eyebrow.

Perfect Princess threw herself at him and snuggled her face on him.

"Forfeit! Forfeit! I surrender! I am your girlfriend from now on!"

Jia felt bile rise in her throat. Kids these days. That girl couldn't be older than 18.

"Do whatever you want~!" She squealed. A squeal that turned into a bloodied gurgle as Prince's black sword ran her through. Her short frilly skirt and stylish top were soiled with her blood.

"You….!" She managed to scream before she turned into a white pillar of light.

Jia saw Prince mutter something and swing his sword everywhere spraying Perfect Princess's blood all over the arena and himself. The crowd went completely silent, and Jia had to hold her ribs to avoid bursting out laughing. That kid had some spunk in him.

"OD...ODD SQUAD WINS!" shouted the excited announcer, and broke the thick silence and the crowd erupted with cheers and screams.

"Jia!" Hawk poked her, trying to raise his voice above the screams of Prince's newfound fangirls. He motioned her toward the exit. The smaller contest was about to begin, and they needed to get their numbers.

The numbers 4456 were painted proudly on a piece of cloth strapped to their armor. Jia could feel her muscles clench, ready for action. She could hear the announcer announcing that small group tournament began. Hawk stood beside her, looking very relaxed, swinging his hook-sword to warm up his muscles.

"Team 4456 will compete against team 8766, this fight will be two fighters against 5 fighters, ladies and gentlemen!" shouted the announcer.

"Hawk, step in the arena before me, I want to try something" she whispered to him. "Enter confidently, like you are the only one on the team, Ok? I'll come in after two minutes." She looked at him." Trust me. We can really use the reward."

Hawk nodded and turned. The arena's gate opened in front of him. She could see that the other team was already in place, three warriors, a whip wielder and an archer. They were all screaming insults toward hawk that seemed to laugh right back at them.

"3….2…..1….." she could hear the announcer count down the seconds to the fight, but the warriors were already running toward Hawk, their axes and swords ready to pierce his guts at any second.

So she ran. Jia flapped her wings and ran as fast as she could.  
>"Hawk! Now!" she shouted, taking the warriors by surprise. Hawk spun in her directions, she ran toward him as he kneeled a bit and put his arms in a "thief's bridge" position.<p>

Catching her leg he pushed her into the air. She flew toward the warriors like a cannon ball, her wings spreading to their full length, _Vengeance of fire_ ready to strike. The first warrior only gaped at her as she cut off his head in one swift motion, and launched him to the recovery spot.

The second warrior, who wielded a mean looking axe, swung his weapon at her and missed as she used her wings to glide around him, her rapier quickly following and shredding his stomach. With a flick of her wrist she pulled her weapon and was ready to face the next opponent.

The woman wielding the whip was running toward her bellowing a shrill battle cry and swinging the whip above her head. She heard Hawk finish the other warrior off and his quick steps as he ran past her toward the whip lady.

Suddenly something hit her shoulder and she fell on her back. An arrow stuck out of her shoulder.

"Jia!" she thought she heard Gui screaming from the audience.

Another arrow struck her wing as she rose from the ground. She saw Hawk getting lashed in the face. His hand reached toward his face hissing as his finger made contact with the long cut on his face, his eye started to swell.

"Jia! Get up!" she heard Prince and Gui shout at her.

The archer arrived next to her and delivered a kick to the side of her face. Her sight blackened for a few seconds as world spun. Jia shot her hand out to her sword but the archer was quicker. With a swift motion he stepped on her wrist and ground it into the dirt.

Jia felt her wrist breaking and screamed. He took her rapier in his hands and examined it while he kept her wrist under his foot.

"say goodbye, birdie" he said sweetly, and took _Vengeance of fire _in his hands_,_ getting ready to finish her off.

Jia glared at him, and wish with all her heart for him to burn.

And he did._ Vengeance of fire _burst in blood red flames. Jia heard the whip wielder scream and die and the surprised yelp Hawk made when he saw her.

The archer stumbled back and tried to extinguish the fire that latched onto him. He screamed and screamed but the fire only pulsed in synch with her heart beats and the archers screams. It went on a few minute, the crowd was completely silent and the only thing Jia heard was the blood rush in her ears.

Finish this off, thought Jia. The fire turned a few shades darker, reaching burgundy, and within the flames a white pillar of light appeared and shot up to the sky, toward the competition's healing spt.

And it was over.

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><p>A\N- i deeply appriciate every comment given to me, thank you people!<p>

Hello everybody! I am deeply sorry for the immense delay in updated. Life and school plotted against me and hit me harshly! :\

I feel this chapter turned out slower than I intended…

Please leave a comment with your opinion! It's a great motivation and it helps me with the plot!

Until next time!

~enter Game of Thrones music~

Trogmorten. ; )


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

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><p>First ring.<p>

Second ring.

Third ring.

Fourth ring.

Fifth ring….

No answer.

"Are you about to answer that?"

He shook his head.

"Why?"

"It's my mother."

Li looked at Kuan and shook his head and ate his toast silently. Their fourth day together had passed pleasantly for both of them. His mother tried to contact him at least 30 times these days. The phone rang again and Kuan looked away from it. Finishing his slightly burnt toast li snatched the phone from the table and flipped it open.

"Hello~?" He answered sweetly and paused for a second. "Yes this is kuan's phone, who is it?". Li looked at his nails, and then to Kuan. "It's for you." He stated.

Kuan frowned at him and snatched the phone. "As if I didn't know that, Li." He hissed as he put the phone to his ear. "Mom?"

"Kuan, Where are you? Did you eat? Why didn't you answer your phone? Are you injured-"

"Mom! I'm at Li's house, everything is okay. Slow down". Kuan huffed; he was embarrassed that Li was watching him. Kuan suddenly heard his mother take a strangled breath, and burst in tears. A feeling of great guilt had settled in his heart as he heard her sob hysterically into the phone. How could he not call her? He was away for four days and he never called her, not even once.

"Mom, I'm so sorry, I just got so upset! Everything is changing, and you are moving so fast without me!-"

"I was so worried something happened to you, Kuan!" she cut in, "so so worried! And a man came to the bookshop today, he says…" Kuan could hear her crying harder, she took a large breath in between breathes, "Someone tried to break in Mr. Shuai's house yesterday, and he attacked him—" she was cut off by her own sobbing.

Kuan felt like everything went wrong with the world. He felt his eyes sting. Mr. Shuai used to bring him chocolate when his mother would keep an eye on him when he was little. He used to see him every day of the summer.

"…And how is he …Mom..?" Kuan almost whispered to the phone.

"He is at the hospital; the doctors say he might not survive the night. His son is living in another country and they cannot reach him! Please come home, I'm going to see him tomorrow, but I want you home today, please Kuan!'

After five minutes and a brief explanation to Li, Kuan was out the door.

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><p>The door opened and two comforting hands circled him, pulling him into a tight loving embrace, followed by a slap to his head and a tighter embrace.<p>

"Don't you ever do that again, do you hear me?"

Kuan held his trembling mother tighter. He will not just leave like that ever again. The hug loosened and Jia walked to the kitchen, holding his hand.

"Do you want some tea, Honey?"

"Mom, go sit down, I'll make the tea."

Sitting at the table, now with a warm cup of peach and honey tea in her hands Jia gave Kuan a small warm smile, which he happily returned. She swiped some loos strands of hair out of her eyes. They both sat quietly and sipped their tea.

"Are you enjoying Second Life, Kuan?" she suddenly asked, looking up from her cup.

Kuan's eye lighted up. Second Life was one of the things he loved to talk about. He would often talk to his friends in class all about it, the tactics and tips of how to beat specific monsters or bosses and the current well known characters.

He told her about his character and about his teammates, his favorite areas and the monsters he though were the scariest.

"You should have seen it! The boss was about as big as the entire tavern we were in! some noob didn't know what to do when he appeared so he ran and lured it into the village. You should have seen the lower ranked players, they almost fainted. It's not every day you get to meet and fight a giant swamp blob fish boss. God it was so disgusting…"

"My first boss was the giant blob master." Jia laughed, as Kuan looked at her skeptically.

"There is no way you managed to fight that all alone with a stick mom." He stated.

"Well…not entirely alone, I had company in the end...and hey! I've been a gamer even before you were born, little boy! I have more moves then any one in Second Life!"

"And you are probably the oldest person playing" Kuan snorted and bought himself a well-aimed slap to the head.

"The older the wiser" She winked to him.

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><p>Against all odds, the old frail man survived the night and was now stable. Jia and Kuan were the only guests left after his colleagues have left. He smiled gently at Jia whose eyes watered constantly. He murmured to them, and they listened, even laughed at his joke. His speech slurred a bit and he had some nasty bruises on him.<p>

White machines bipped and hummed quietly at the background as the setting sun threw her last rays into the small room. He smiled at Kuan who handed him a box with sliced chicken and cooked vegetables he knew he liked. The old man smiled, his eyes filling with tears when Jia handed him the newest copy of "Literature today" he had missed. He took her hand in his old shaking one squeezing it, conveying his emotions to her by his gentle touch.

The nurse arrived and gently announced that the visiting hours were now done, and that they should head home before it gets dark. Kuan bowed his head and left the room, escorted by the nurse. Jia left the room, and with a last glance toward the room she saw Mr. Shuai stare solemnly at the last ray of a dying sun. No family member had come to visit him that day.

A heavy feeling sank to the bottom of her stomach. He looked so small, frail and alone. He put his head on the sterile pillow behind him and pulled the white and blue hospital blanket up to his neck. It had a quite foreboding sense of finality.

It was not fair for him to be left all alone in that cold bed.

She felt a small hand moving her away from the hospital room toward the exit. It all felt wrong, but still she walked silently toward the bus station outside the hospital waiting hand in hand with Kuan for the bust to arrive, and take them far away.

* * *

><p>Jia's fist collided with the magician's face. She felt his bones crack under her knuckle, and heard the sickening crack as he hit the opposite wall. She felt something hot passing by her ear with immense speed, missing her head by mere centimeters. Spinning quickly she impaled the second magician on her sword.<p>

She was the one who took down Hawk.

The magician screamed as Jia twisted her sword and wrenched it out of her. Her scream was cut abruptly as she turned into a beam of light and was launched to the healing point.

Jia felt her wings going numb after being hit by a dark spell. She swayed to the side as three balls of fire came zooming at her. A scream was torn from her as her wing caught on fire; she drooped on the ground and rolled to extinguish the fire that burned away most of the feathers on her left wing. Jia took hold of the small knife that was attached to her hip and hurled it toward the tall magician. He was taken by surprise when the knife buried itself in his forehead and he turned into a pillar of pure light.

It was one on one now.

And Jia had no intention to lose. Not in the quarter-finals.

The last magician had a crazed look in her eyes as she lifted up her hands and hurled lightning bolts at Jia, who ran around the arena as the girl kept shooting at her, screaming a string of curses.

Making a sharp turn, Jia ran at full speed at the magician whose current spell just ended. Using one of her favorite moves from her all-time favorite game she used to compete against Yul Jun, Jia leaped in the air and managed to deliver a blow to the girl's head with the blunt side of her sword, and then she kicked her knee, making the poor girl kneel in front of her. Getting down on her knees too, Jia ran the girl through with her sword, feeling her slump against her and then disappear.

It was over.

She had won.

They advanced to the semi-finals.

She didn't hear the crowd irrupt into screams and cheers, nor did she notice the Odd squad members running toward her. She did what she had to do, and she wanted to go get some real sleep for the first time in a long time. She felt as if she left him there to die, in that hospital.

She felt her friends hug her and praise her. She felt as if she was suffocating, she started breathing heavily and put both her hands over her eyes.

"Jia?" she heard a familiar voice call her. "Guys, give her some space".

Gui, who up until then was running around prince, trying to hug him and love him like doting lover that he was, stopped in front of her, and looked very serious.

"Breath" He commanded and escorted her outside the arena. The crowd's cheers carried after them, crying "…..Phoenix! Bloody Phoenix!" after them. It sickened her. She looked at her hands and felt a wave of nausea fly through her. Her armor and clothes were spotted with the blood of her enemies. There was a larger section on her midriff that was soaked completely with blood, the last girl's blood. Her hands were red and they started to shake.

"Help me clean this up, Gui. I can't look at myself."

* * *

><p>After cleaning her clothes, dipping her head several times in a barrel of water Jia managed to calm down. She had told Gui about the attack on Mr. Shuai, and about Kuan's absence.<p>

"Maybe he just needs some space, Jia. He is a teenage boy. Try looking for irregularities in his behavior, maybe something is bothering him." Jia's face fell, and she looked on the verge of tears again.

"Come here honey, you are a wonderful mother and you know it." Said Gui and spread his arms. Jia Fell into his arms and hugged him as if he was her only salvation. She breathed erratically for a few minutes, trying her best not to break again.

"I didn't know you were a mother!" exclaimed a surprised voice from the door. Jia picked up her head from Gui's shoulder who broke their hug when Prince strode into the room, followed by the rest of the Odd squad. Prince ignored Gui's stammered exclamation that their hug was purely platonic, and stood in front of Jia eyeing her.

"How old are you anyway?" asked Prince

Jia's cheeks were stained with a light blush. They were all so much younger than her, and she didn't want them to treat her differently because of her age. Up until now only Hawk and Gui knew how old she was and Hawk had to pester her about the subject for a couple of days before she addmited.

"I'll be…..in three months" she whispered.

"What?"

"I said I'll be…32…in three months" she coughed into her hand.

"YOU are 32?" breathed Prince," This is unbelievable!" His expression suddenly shifted to deadly serious "I want a fight! Right here, right now! I want you to show me everything you've got! 'Cause I don't believe you!" he taunted.

Jia looked as if she has been hit on the head with something blunt.

"You don't BELIEVE me?" She looked at him. All the other players around them ceased to exist as Prince sauntered toward her, cocking his head to the side and sending her his trademark grin. Jia felt a storm brewing inside her stomach, his over confidence, his prissy walk his swelling ego all inflamed her anger.

"You're on," she hissed. Prince's grin turned into a smirk when she let go of his shirt, which she didn't realize she was clutching with her fist.

"After we win our tournament" said Hawk's voice as the familiar weight of his hand settled on Jia's shoulder. "You two can fight as much as you'd like."

* * *

><p>Kuan squeezed himself into an empty chair, Li dropping down to an empty chair next to him. The deep hum of many conversations rose and fell as the eager crowed waited for the tournament to continue. Kuan and Li arrived just as the final team member; a large male warrior decapitated a small blond elf with a whip, and ended a battle they all knew that team would win. There were eager conversations about the fight they had both missed. Behind them a couple of players retold that fight to a female player who seemed a bit repulsed at the gory fight.<p>

"…When that ball of ice hit the other teammate everyone was sure the fight was over! But you should have seen that lady's face when the magician kicked her teammate over and he broke! It was as if something clicked inside her head!-"

"Yea!" interrupted the other player, "she punched the magician she was dealing with so hard I heard his nose crack up here! And then after she was through with him, she like…-"

"-spun around and impaled that magician girl on her sword!" Cut in the third player. He had a dreamy look in his eyes. "It was as if she was dancing there… her wings had such a beautiful shade of crimson and gold… she looked as if she was engulfed in fire when she spun and hit the last magician with her sword….."

"She never stood a chance" the three of the sighed. The female player who sat with them looked a bit lost. "And that was….admirable..?" she snorted.

They looked as if she just kicked their puppy.

"Of course it was!" raved on of them.

"She is the perfect example of majestic power!" shouted the other.

"The bloody Phoniex!" The third whispered and pointe at the arena ring.

Kuan turned to look at the arena, and gaped.

The woman emerging from the arena's gate was majestic. With short brown hair, a leather armor that clung to her slim form, two crimson golden wings that stretched to great length above her and a beautiful rapier at her side, she was beautiful. And above all, she was his mother.

"Holly shit" he whispered.

She was harder to recognize with her hair this short, and a tad darker. She looked impressive, walking into the arena with a cat like charm to her strides. Following closely behind her was an elf. With a strong straight nose, two long ears and slightly slanted eyes, the player emanated a predatory aura.

Suddenly she stopped and looked behind her. A tall player ran toward her, his purple hair pooling behind him, his white cloak flying around him as he threw a small package to her.

"Oh god…! " Kuan whispered.

"What is it?" asked Li.

"Oh god!" Kuan exclaimed again, his head coming to rest in his hands.

"What is it, dammit?" Li lost his temper.

"That's my mother over there, Li… and that's my uncle, Gui Wen…"

"That tall Player with the white hair is your uncle? I didn't even know you had one…"

"No…No…the other player there" He pointed at the elf running back to the arena's gate." That's him…and he is not really my uncle...He was one of my dad's friends, he visits us once in a while, he is a friend of my mom too... they all learned at the same school."

Meanwhile the announcer was screaming excitedly into the makeshift microphone.

"The Semi Finals Begin…..NOW!" screamed the announcer.

* * *

><p>She breathed deeply. It was show time.<p>

"The Semi Finals Begin…..NOW!" she heard the announcer scream and the crowd irrupted with screams and cheers. She could hear a sentence repeated like a mantra, the audience screamed and whistled the rhythm again and again, until she couldn't hear anything but the shouts. With her heart beats in synch to the screams, her brain registered to the meaning of the rhythm.

"Bloody Phoenix! Bloody Phoenix! Bloody Phoenix!"

Hawk stepped next to her, and took her hand in his, squeezing it tightly.

"Spread your wings!" someone shouted from the audience. With a side loo to Hawk who smiled and nodded, she took her rapier and held it to the sky with pride, her wings spreading to their full length behind her. Her ear drums almost burst by the wave of enthusiastic screeches.

And then the ground shook.

* * *

><p>"What the hell is this?" breathe Kuan. A hole opened in the middle of the arena, and a giant wooden box emerged from it. The players who screamed his mother's nickname a moment ago went completely silent, like the rest of the crowd.<p>

* * *

><p>With a big rumbling noise, the side of the box fell down in front of Jia. She took a couple of steps back, and heard Hawk shout a couple of nasty curses. She would have cursed too but her jaw wouldn't move. As if thousands of miles separated the ring from the rest of the Arena she heard the muffled voice of the announcer.<p>

"The competition masters decided the from this instant the Semi-finals are now the grand Final! Every team will face a random monster boss. The team that will stay the longest time in the arena wins!"

Two large yellow eyes opened in the inky darkness of the wooden box, and a low throaty growl resounded dangerously from it.

And the whole box shattered to a thousand pieces.

Lifting her head up to meet the beast's eyes, Jia felt the courage she had felt melt away.

* * *

><p>A\N- Hello to all!<p>

I am very sorry for the lateness of this update. But I must say it has been an…eventful month… I graduated school! Horray! But on a sadder note, my kitten died..

I was extremely sad when I wrote the beginning of this chapter..

I want to thank all of my reviewers! You made this horrible month bearable!

Please alert me of any mistakes or other thing ^^

And as always- Please (PLEAEPLEASE) leave a review or a comment! It gives me such a great drive to keep writing! :D

Thank you everyone who reviewed, put this story to his alert\ favorite and to everyone who just read this story! I am deeply touched by the fact that people take interest in my writing!

Until next time- Trogmorten!


	7. Chapter 7-Of losses

A\N- it took me forever to write this chapter, and for this I am truly sorry. Please enjoy.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7-Of losses<p>

* * *

><p>It would be unfair to say Jia was scared.<p>

It would be unfair to say Jia was shocked.

Jia was absolutely horrified, terribly terrified and shocked beyond her mind.

Her sword wielding hand trembled as the challenge ahead gave a deep intimidating growl and broke his confines with a shake of his mighty tail. Jia crouched and took shelter from the great pieces of wood and debris flying around her, her wings spreading out to shelter Hawk, who too had been stupefied by their shared challenge.

The dust sank back to the ground and let the bright light of the artificial sun shine upon the prideful mane of a giant Chimera, its talons scratching the ground and his serpentine tail swishing from side to side. Two giant ember eyes fixed themselves upon the small players who stood petrified in front of the prideful beast.

"Jia" whispered Hawk, "get his tails. Kill those serpents, I don't care how you do it, freeze them, and stab them. Cut their heads. I will go for his head. The longer we are both alive the better."

"Get his eyes." she whispered back.

"And don't die" she added, after a moment.

"You know me," he winked and swung his hook blades, showing off his skill with his beloved weapons. "I always do" he laughed.

The great Chimera opened its mouth and rumbled with a great threatening swing of his tail, "**Who dares disturb my slumber? Come forward and I shall devour you for your insolence!"**

Hawk sent a last look at Jia who was already preparing her sword, baring her teethe with a small throaty growl.

Majestic.

They both sprung into a flurry of motion, as the crowed sat and watched in silence.

* * *

><p>Dodging and rolling on the arena floor, the serpentine head at the end of the beast's tail missed Jia . There was no time for her to catch her breath as the Chimera turned around to land another attack on her. Meanwhile Hawk was swinging his blades, now connected at their hooks, in an attempt to draw the beast's attention away from her.<p>

It has been 7 whole minutes of none stop action, and Hawk felt he was reaching the end of his strength. He had to win, for once, he wanted to feel like a winner. He wanted to feel the surge of victory, even if his father wasn't there to watch him win, to watch him succeed where his brother couldn't stand in his way here.

He slashed, ducked, rolled, jumped, all the while remaining at the edge of the angry Chimera's reach. He caught Jia's look. She was smiling at him, a glint of wild amusement in her eyes. She swung her rapier and managed to land a harsh blow to the beast's ribs, creating a large bleeding wound. The beast roared with anger, the pain and the fury masking its intelligence, preventing it to speak.

He smiled at her-

And then a giant paw collided with the side of her head. She twisted through the air like a rag doll and collided with the arena's wall, creating a small dent in the stones. Her neck was twisted in an odd angle, and her entire body was heavily bleeding. He choked, not even able to utter his teammate's name when she vanished from the arena in a bright pillar of light.

It was all on him now, and he will be dammed if that beast was gonna' take him down.

Running at full speed toward the beast, which was still busy searching for Jia, Hawk grabbed one of the talons of the beast and quickly hoisted himself up on its back. The serpent flashed two sharp teeth at him and spat venom, missing his head.

Hawk fished a small red scroll from his pouch and threw it in the serpent's mouth, who was already readying another toxic spit. Hawk turned away and leaped to the Chimera's head and caught it's golden mane with his hands.

For a moment there was an eerie silence from the Chimera.

-And then the red scroll exploded. The Chimera roared and the crowd cheered, too excited to remain silent and calm. Blood and bits of the serpent's head and guts clung to Hawk's hair and clothes. The bleeding stump swung around frantically and the Chimera started to thrash around, trying to remove the pest that hurt him.

Hawk clung to the mane, muttering strings of choked curses, as the Chimera started running around the arena, trying to shake him off. His swords were slung on his back, and he couldn't afford to take his hands off the beast.

It was all about time.

The beast seemed to slow down and Hawk took the opportunity and reached back for his swords. The chimera jumped unexpectedly and Hawk lost his grip.

Hawk started to slide down, desperately trying to find a grip. With a great shake and a strong toss hawk fell down to the ground harshly. The air was knocked out of him completely and small black dots swam across his eyes. The edges of his vision became tinted with red color, and he heard the small persistent beeping noises that indicated his health points were extremely low.

A great shadow hovered above him.

As the angry Chimera's talon came down upon him, Hawk managed to utter a scream.

* * *

><p>With a bright flash Hawk was dumped on a small wooden chair. He pressed his hands to his forehead and slumped where he was seated.<p>

"Well, that was smashing, wasn't it?" laughed a masculine voice to his right.

"Went out with a bang, right Hawk?" laughed Jia's voice.

Jia's head came to rest on Hawk's shoulder, and hummed a happy tune; Gabriel leaned on the wall and gazed at them. He gave him a crooked smile.

"Sure did," he murmured, and laid his head on top of hers.

He drew a shaking breath; the unnerving sensation of his death was still too fresh in his mind. They all sat there for some time, their health points slowly filling them up. Jia kept chanting her happy tune, her head still resting peacefully on hawk's shoulder.

Gabriel stretched his hands and got up from his chair. He eyed Jia, who opened her eyes but didn't move from her comfortable position leaning on Hawk. Her gaze fixed on him, he motioned with his head toward the exit gate of the healing point in the arena.

"I received a message from the game, the semi-finals matches are all over. You can go and see if you advanced to the finals in a few days-" his hand gently tapped the ridge of his nose, as if he was in deep thoughts, "Also, the group semi -finals are revised. It will be a great battle between all the registered players in a week from now."

"Oh." Said Jia, "I'll inform Odd squad."

Gabriel nodded and smiled at her, and then he melted to a blue ray of light, indicating he had logged off.

* * *

><p>Jia walked briskly through the streets of the great city, shadowed by the great arena. Hawk had logged off. He was acting a bit strangely, he held her hands tightly before he left, kissed her cheek and thanked her for the wonderful matches they had won that day. Before she could replay or praise him on his excellent performance against the Chimera he simply vanished into the blue ray of light.<p>

It annoyed her greatly, but she had to focus on finding Odd squad and inform them of the change. She won't have them surprised by the changes in the middle of their fight, like she was.

It simply wasn't fair.

She saw a flash of deep purple hair passing by the arches next to the great stairs that led to the arena, and from the distance she heard Gui's voice arguing with Lolidragon. She followed them and caught up to them as they came to a halt at the base of the arches.

The members off Odd squad were facing for the other direction; she heard a final statement coming from Lolidragon. Gui, with a ridicules pout turned away from them, putting a up a hissy fit to draw a certain players attention. His attention was so focused on Prince, he failed to see Jia wave at him.

"Hey there, sexy" Said Jia in a deep voice, mimicking the TV entertainer she and Gui liked to watch on occasions. Jia barely contained her laughter as Gui uttered a feminine scream and jumped away from her, thinking some weirdo was messing with him again.  
>When he saw her standing there, a knowing smirk smeared all over her face, his horror melted into a happy smile.<p>

"Jia Li! I never knew you had it in you to scare a poor man half to death!" he laughed as he gave her a friendly hug. She told Gui about the changes the game masters made in the finals, and was relieved to know they were actually well informed.

"Actually," stated Gui with annoyance, "we are here to meet another team participating in the finals". He took a short ragged breath and looked over his shoulder, toward prince who was currently talking to Ugly wolf. Jia, following his line of sight gave a small desperate sigh.

"Still deeply in love with that arrogant ass?" she nudged him out of his long gaze.

"I think I know who Prince is in real life" he murmured.

Jia's eyes rounded with surprise. "Excuse me?!"

He smiled at her outburst, but his expression quickly changed to one of determination. "In one of the classes I teach at the university, there have been awfully a lot of questions about my in game life." He paused for a moment. "Well, I started noticing that some people asked very specific questions about my relationship with his Highness…".

"And?" Jia prompted him.

"Every time I started talking about his Highness a student in my class looked away from me…. I started watching him more and then I saw it… he must be my Prince! They look very much alike! I admit Prince holds himself more arrogantly, but you just can't really know!"

Jia poked his forehead with affection, "Don't linger! What is his name? Is he hot?"

Gui, rubbing his abused forehead looked at her. "His name is Feng Yang Ming. He has a nice twin sister who is also in my class… they are both fairly smart… And I've seen most of my students in game- except from him! He must be Prince! He has to be!"

Jia looked at him, he looked desperate.

"You said you haven't felt like you feel right now for Prince since Anora came…"

Gui nodded.

"And I really hate to pour on your parade, Love, But must I remind you that what happened with Anora…. Wasn't the happy ending you were looking for…?" Gui started to protest, but Jia raised her hand in a mother like gesture and shushed him. "Don't you think you are taking this too far? You have been playing this weird cat and mouse game for six months, ever since you teamed up with him. Although here it is not really clear if the cat will ever catch the mouse, or if the mouse is even a mouse, and why the cat keeps being beaten half to death—look. All I am saying is…you should take to your consideration Prince might not take you seriously. You always run around, all love-struck, happy and jumping. You are like a firework show."

"But it must be him! Don't you see? Prince puts so much effort into keeping me as far away from him as he possibly can, he won't even admit he learns in XXX University! I had to overhear him say that to Lolidragon…. Maybe if I try again, try harder; he might even notice…I'll do everything I can to show him… I will show every one…"

Gui looked to the ground, too upset to look at his good friend. A gentle hand cupped his cheek and lifted his head.

"Gui, Think about what _you_ want. Do what pleases _you_, go after what _you_ want seriously, and treat yourself like the great, wonderful, passionate, caring, smart person you are. If _you_ can't take you advances seriously, how can Prince ever realize what a great thing he is missing?" She pulled him into a warm hug.

"I only say these harsh things because I care about you. I want to see you happy." She told him while hugging him closer.

He buried his face in her shoulder.

"I know Jia….." he murmured.

"Thank you" he added in a slight whisper, letting her go.

* * *

><p>She stood at the back of the group as a handsome young man in a beautiful piece of armor led a group of people who, accordingly to Gui, called themselves "Dark Phantom"<p>

"Long time no see, Prince." Said the young man. He carried himself with grace and confidence, and looked like the brave knight he was dressed up to be. She heard Gui huff in disdain, she could feel the waves of irritation and unhappiness emitting from him, like a big smoldering aura.

"long time no see, Wicked" said prince and sent a nasty looking glare toward a very small feminine male player who stood behind wicked. There was clear tension in the air as dark Phantom came forth and stood before the members of Odd squad. Jia heard Gui clearly mumble something nasty toward Wicked and gave herself a mental note to remind him he was a grown-up with a light smack on the top of his cute purple head. Gui looked to the other side, pretending to take great interest in the small NPC birds who drank from a nearby fountain, when-

"Hello Professor." Said a masculine voice.

"Feng Yang Ming?!"

Jia never noticed as Gui discovered his beloved Prince wasn't the man he thought he was, neither did she see his reaction or the conversation that followed afterward. A small persistent ringing noise indicated something was wrong. The phone never stopped ringing.

* * *

><p>Cold white lights illuminated the corridor, which seemed to get smaller and smaller as the doctor talked. Jia found it very hard to breathe normally. He didn't make it through the night. A simple mistake, they said. Internal bleeding the doctor had not anticipated, and Mr. Shuai's frail body could not keep up any longer.<p>

They said he died in his sleep, peacefully. But that was probably what they told everyone. His body was already being prepared for the burial ceremony.

She just sat there and stared at the white walls, thoughts fleeting aimlessly through her head like big gray clouds.

A tall man came through the door, and Jia took a fleeting look at him, only for her unfocused stare to sharpen.

His dark brown hair that was once coned stylishly was now a bit disheveled as if he was running. He held a gray trench coat on his arm. By the rapid rise and fall of his chest Jia could tell that Tai Ning Kuo rushed his way to the hospital. He conversed with the doctor for a minute, then his head fell to his head and a choked sob escaped his lips. The doctor put a hand on his shoulder and said some words that might have been comforting words, but Jia couldn't hear them from her seat. A nurse came and said something to the doctor that was apparently needed somewhere.

The doctor nodded to him politely and said a few words, and then to Jia's surprise he pointed his hand at her and left. He turned his head, his gaze no fixed on her. She wished with all her might that she will just melt into the floor tiles. Talking to Tai Ning wasn't a thing she felt like doing at the moment, especially after she refused letting him specially order books from her store, claiming he was always late to pick them up, and that it was a great nuisance.

For her defense she had been rather pissed off that day by a stupid remark from prince about her fighting style. Not that Prince had meant to offend her in such a way, but she always had a part of her wishing to be stronger, and putting her down with a stupid remark always clicked a switch in her head.

He walked toward her and then he just stood in front of her and looked. His eyes were red rimmed and a bit swollen.

"I never knew you were close to my grandfather."

She avoided his gaze and retorted, "I never knew you were his grandson."

He sat down heavily on the seat next to hear, and sniffed. Jia's small clock beeped. It was four in the morning, Kuan was probably asleep, his mind still in 'Second life'. He will find her yellow sticky note in the morning. Her eyes felt so heavy. And she was doing her best suppressing a yawn.

"You were right, you know" Said Tai Ning after a long tiresome silence.

"Hmm…?"

"I really am always late…. Late for my classes, late to pick up my books, and too damn late to bid goodbye to my poor Grandfather." His face buried in his palms, and he took a shuddering breath. "He was everything I had since my bastard of a father decided to leave on a whim. He was the one who persuaded me to take control over my…problems…and over my life, and persuade my dreams. He was the first to encourage me to go to the University. Even after he got so hurt and confused, there was always a part of him not so docile to love me. And I was late." He lifted his face, which was now stricken with silent tears and looked at Jia.

Seeing the man break tear something inside Jia's heart.

"You live your life"

He looked at her, his mouth slightly open, his breathing ragged. Newfound hope started building in his eyes.

"You take what is left of your life and you start building it again, brick by brick."

Her stare was laced with the bitter taste of memories she wished to forget and the many hardships she struggled through every day. She looked at the wall, breathing in the tranquility of the white paint, and a warm tear slid silently down her cheek.

"No one loved is ever truly forgotten, you see. As corny as it sounds their memory always rests within you, in your heart. They will never truly die as long as they live in our heart and our minds." She exhaled softly and stood.

His gaze followed her and stared, surprised at her hand that reached out for him.

"Let's get some coffee. It's nearly four and a half in the morning, and I don't intend to be sad in this depressing hall. Let's go be sad with a cup of coffee in our hands, and something in our stomach, and I don't know about you, but I've been up since two in the morning and I'm starving."

A tentative hand reached out and took the delicate hand that hovered in the air in front of it. His hand was bigger than her own, and easily wrapped her own hand with comforting warmness.

With a smile, and a gentle tug to the right direction, Tai Ning Kuo could not get his eyes off the short gentle woman leading the way to the hospital's cafeteria.

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><p><strong>A\N<strong>-

Hello! I am happily (and proudly!) announcing OtherLand and I have passed a thousand hits! It may seem like a small victory, but I feel my chest swell with pride!

I wanted to show my gratitude to all of those who have been so kind to favorite this Fanfic, and to those who added it to their following list! Thank you everyone who left me a review- you made me so happy! (I always hear the small "gling!" noise my phone makes when I have an email and I pray it's a message from fanfiction announcing another review! I usually hop around the house, starstruck and happy, mumbling happily about nonsense.).

Thank you Yolinare , who have been with me since the very beginning! And thank you to ming and Bleeb90 who was so nice to leave me a couple of reviews. Thank you Pail rose and Hikari no tenshi-san! Thank you michelle, Forever in the fire, mingaring, ad "ummm" who was my very first reviewer!

Please keep giving me such a great experience writing my very first fanfic! Please keep reviewing and supporting me! Bless your hearts

I always seem to miss the stupid spelling mistakes i make...so please correct me!

I Promise some Kuan Yin development next chapter! And some things Jia was not expecting… (By the way- London Olympics are awesome, right?! I can't get my eyes of the Tv…).

Until next time!

(By the way, I was hearing a song called "Sorairo days" by shoko nakagawa for the past couple of days, and i can't keep it out of my head! do you have such a song?)

-Trogmorten.


	8. Chapter 8-Of cowardice

Chapter 8.

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><p>With an abrupt snore Kuan woke up. His head felt very light and his eyelids heavy. He threw his legs out of the blanket and rolled to the side. "Five more minutes…" he mumbled and shut his alarm clock.<p>

Ten minutes later his phone sprang into life. Kuan groaned and got out of bed, blindly searching for the culprit who kept on ringing stubbornly. Fishing the phone out of his school bag he silenced it, angrily mumbling about the stupidity of alarm clocks. A small vibrant pink sticky note was attached to his second life helmet that rested on his nightstand.

_Kuan honey, there is an emergency situation in the hospital where Mr. Shuai is resting and I was called. I'm sorry but I won't be able to come home in time to take you and Li to the 'second life' store as promised. I'll make it up to you. Since there is no school today you can go ahead and enjoy some freedom, but be careful!_

_Love, Mom_.

Kuan crumpled the note and threw it to the trash bin. He was disappointed that she couldn't be there with him. He planned to have a nice day out with her, and with Li who jumped on the opportunity to be with him and Jia.

He didn't feel so comfortable around Li at all these past few months.

Kuan trotted out of his room, still wearing his sleep-crumpled pajamas. It was weird for him that his mother was not there, she was always there sitting and reading a book, cooking breakfast in the kitchen or handling the bills. The house felt empty without her.

After finishing a rather chewy toast that must have been hastily made at the brink of dawn, and enjoying his cup of vanilla pudding Kuan just sat at the kitchen table. Quit. It was all so quit. The streets were more or less empty this time of the day, especially on a holiday. His friends are probably all asleep now. Glancing at the clock in the kitchen he realized it was earlier then he presumed. Old habits die hard.

His father's picture stood in the middle of the table, where normal families might have a vase with flowers, or whatnot. But they weren't really a normal family. His father's eyes looked forward without a worry in the world, just staring into the empty space, glazed over. He was proud, or at least he thought he was proud. His own father was a hero, as all the newspapers proclaimed at the time. He was a small child, but he remembered. He traveled from hand to hand, patted on the head and hugged by every teary eyed man or woman who came through the door. 'Such a tragedy' they would all mumble when they thought his mother was out of earshot, 'what a shame'. He didn't get it then, his father was a hero- they all said so to his mother, so why was it a tragedy? He was so sure his dad would march in the door and pick him up and spin him in the air with laughter marking his eyes and his smile.

But he didn't come back. Daddy was in the sky, flying with the angels Jia would tell him. Daddy was always watching him from above. Daddy loved him very very much- and he didn't want to go to the sky and leave him alone.

After two months people stopped coming. Nobody stayed around with his family for a long time. As if the time they all spent together was borrowed.

Suddenly Kuan's phone vibrated, snapping him out of his thoughts. Checking his phone Kuan saw he had a text from Li. Li's old habits never died.

**Hi K~ I'm super excited,**

**when r we meeting? **

**Text me when I can come over, k?**

**I have news &wanna share before my parents come home again.**

The text was not signed- but Kuan knew Li's number by heart now.

Quickly texting back a replay, Kuan headed toward his bedroom, to get his armor for the day ready. His black turtle neck sweater and the baggy pants he owned since forever made a suitable suit of armor. Without further delay- he was out of the house.

* * *

><p>He heard the familiar sound of Kuan's legs dragging behind him even before he saw the boy. A warm sensation filled him. It was his friend, his buddy, Kuan.<p>

My Kuan? Soon enough he may be.

Adjusting his eyeglasses and a nice big grin to match, Li picked himself up from the bench he had sat on and threw his arms around his leg dragging friend. A baggy, old, dusty probably-belonged-to-his-grandfather jumper worn over a turtle neck sweater, completed with those horrifying baggy pants Kuan loved so much, Kuan looked ready to set foot into a library and never come back. Not that it was very different from his usual habits of sticking his nose into a dusty fantasy book and never coming back.

Li 'tsked' and moved to straighten and fix Kuan's appearance. For a moment Kuan actually let him fuss over his clothes, muttering a quick "Hey, how are you?" and tried to avoid a passing knowing look shot at them by a passing woman.

"Did you really have to wear _this_ today…?" Li complained. Kuan only rolled his eyes, and slouched a little bit. He didn't look like he even combed his hair since waking up. Well, it can't really be helped, this was a special day, and on special days, special boys should comb their hair.

He felt Kuan flinch when he passed his fingers through his hair, and soon all touch had ended, with a light shove from Kuan, and a lot of grumbling.

It was his loss, really. Kuan never really bothered about his looks, and his mother was not reinforcing it either. But then again, he never expected them to have the neatest, newest stylish look his parents expected him to maintain. They were important in some cycles, somewhere in the world, he though dismissively, he supposed they were both expected to look a certain way, it never bothered his older brother. Well, half-brother really, although Li often liked to think himself an only child. He often felt that the overall shagginess of the Lang family was a part of their, charm. A charm he was missing, that _they_ were missing. He wouldn't have Kuan any other way he loved the strangeness of the Lang's. Well, but a few nice clothes wouldn't hurt any of them.

It was a cold-ish day, but the sky were clear, and the sun seemed to smile at him. They were both facing an important day. Li looked sideways to Kuan who was searching for directions on his cellphone. Special boys deserved special days for special announcements.

It was all so special.

* * *

><p>By the time Kuan stepped into the 'Second life' shop he was feeling better. Li was even more cheerful then usual and was doing his best efforts to draw Kuan out of the slightly annoyed gloom he was stuck in. The 'Second life' shop- a great structure of shiny steel, glass and white smooth surfaces- stood proudly on the main street of X city. Although, the main shop of second life, and the software headquarters were stationed at Y city, the sheer sizes of the shop he stood before indicated otherwise.<p>

The big elegant glass doors glided to each side, and a rush of warm air washed Kuan and Li as they entered the store. They both blinked. Beyond the fancy doors was another land. For a moment, Kuan had the feeling it was all a dream and that he was still in his bed, his second life helmet still on his head.

Li said something and started towing Kuan after him. It all passed in a daze, Li laughing and showing him the replicas of their in game armors, the wings section, and whatnot. There even was a special section for the arena fights that showed footage from the semi-finals that took place the previous night. Photos of his mother were played on the screens, showing her being hit by the chimera's paw, and the rest of the fight where her teammate – a white haired elf, who had a predatory gleam in his eyes. They had a special corner for some popular player that Kuan thought looked a bit familiar. His name was…Duke? Or King? Prince? Kuan didn't really care. Li didn't stop talking about how handsome that player was even after they both left the store and made their way toward a nearby karaoke club. Kuan noted Li bought a Prince figurine, personally he thought it was a bit creepy a person was being objectified like that.

They sat in a small booth, a large window showing them the afternoon skies turning into a beautiful shade of gold. Li was watching him intently, sipping his ice tea and Kuan watched the people walk by the window. He felt Li's eyes burrowing holes in the side of his head, and turned to look at the boy. Well not really a boy any more. Li was older then Kuan, that was a few months away from his 17th birthday. It seemed his 16th birthday was not so long ago, and by now he could not picture his nights without his 'Second life' helmet on his head, and his mind deep in the game. Li was already reaching his 17th birthday in about two months.

A waitress passed by them and threw Kuan a sweet smile, swaying her hips a bit as she passed. She looked about their age, maybe a year older and she was beautiful. Kuan's eyes followed her as she went about her business. She may be beautiful, but she is No Xiu Mi. Kuan missed her dearly, they haven't met each other in over two months, and the few quick glances he caught of her in school didn't make him feel any better. There was no girl who moved as gracefully as Xiu Mi did, no girl was smarter than her, or lovelier in his eyes. No girl could compare to her, she was his beautiful, smart, funny girlfr- not yet. But soon enough she will be. He had promised her she wouldn't have to wait for him for long…

Kuan was torn from his longing thoughts when Li cleaned his throat loudly. He leaned forward and took kuan's hand in his own, and with that touch a wave of fury washed over Kuan. It hit him with such urgency he had to resist smacking Li's hand away. If it wasn't for Li's attitude toward Xiu mi, if it wasn't for his determination to humiliate and insult her so much, calling her "gray mouse" and making fun of her, reducing her to tears she could be happy with him now. They could both be happy together. He was in love with her ever since he was 5 years old, and pulled her braided hair to get her attention. They day she confessed she liked him too was one of his happiest memories. But now it was all for naught because of Li.

Kuan steadied his breath, and pulled his hand away from Li. He didn't seem to mind the action so much. Leaning forward, a happy smile plastered to his face Li announced "I have big news".

"It is time for me to be completely honest with you Kuan" li said, he cleared his throat once again, and suddenly he did not seem so sure. "Do you remember the day when I first met you? I dropped all my books down the stairs and you helped me pick them up?"

Kuan nodded, it was five years ago in junior high school.

"Well I knew it even then."

Kuan had a bad feeling, but he blurted none the less "Knew what?"

Li took his hand again, and leaned toward him.

"I love you, Kuan. I love you so much. I love you until it hurts."

Suddenly, nothing existed. Kuan felt as if he was floating away. He recalled all of those little touches, the hugs, the attitude and felt like an idiot.

"I left my parents a letter in their suitcase before they left for Berlin. I'm coming out; I can finally feel like myself! Kuan?" laughed Li, tears of joy glistering in his eyes. His smile dwindled as he looked at Kuan, and concern quickly replaced the joy he felt.

"Kuan, what is i-" started Li.

"- I can't do this Lis." Kuan cut him.

"What do you mean you can't do this?" Li laughed nervously as he wiped the tears away from his eyes. "What about the past five years? What about our connection? Our friendship?"

"Li," Kuan interrupted again with a weary voice "I was never in love with you." Li looked as if he was slapped.

"But Kuan…!"

"And I don't think I will ever fall in love with you Li." Kuan sounded harsh and cold to himself. But he kept pressing. "I already am in Love."

"No, no, no no…" Li mumbled, his fingernails digging into Kuan's hand.

"And I think you Knew all along, Li—"

"no, no, no, no-"

"That I Love—"

"no, no-"

"Xiu Mi."

"NO!" bellowed Li, suddenly up on his feet, tears of rage welling in his eyes, replacing those naïve tears of joy. He looks as if his heart was ripped out of him, but Kuan steeled his heart. It was the time to set things straight.

"HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO ME , KUAN?!" Li shouted, not caring half the heads in the establishment were now focused on his outburst.

"HOW…how can you do this to me? I love you Kuan! Who else knows as much as me about you? Who was loyal to you for YEARS?" Li moved between shouts and desperate whispers, when finally he broke.

"I CAME OUT FOR YOU, KUAN!"

Kuan felt as if he was watching himself from above, not connected to his body, just flying above the whole situation, meanwhile Li burst in tears and slumped in his seat.

"Li, I just..-"

"Get the hell out of here Kuan..." murmured Li.

"What?"

"I SAID," breathed Li, "GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Kuan stood up and went to the door, escorted out by Li's raged howls.

"SEND YOUR LITTLE RAT MY REGARDS!" was the last thing he heard before the pretty waitress escorted him out. He took a deep breath and turned to the waitress, handing her a bill to cover his drinks. She fished small change from the pouch on her waist and handed it to him. Kuan felt a little piece of paper sliding into his hand as well as the money.

"Listen," she rasped in a voice clearly damaged by years of smoking cigarettes "If you're not busy with that guy any more I'd love to…see you sometimes." She finished and checked his body out without shame, sent him a sly wink and re-entered the karaoke bar.

Kuan looked at the note in his hand. It was a napkin from the bar, with a phone number scribbled on it with a blue pen, "Jian" was written next to it. Kuan crumpled the note and threw it on the side walk, walking toward the bus station as the sky darkened fishing out his phone from his bag and hitting speed dial.

"hello?" said a familiar voice, and Kuan sighed passing his hand through his hair.

"Hey Xiu, it's me... can you meet me in the park in front of your house, in 15 minutes? I need to talk to you."

"Sure, Kuan? What is it? I haven't seen you in a long while."

"Yea, I know. I thought it was about time I changed that."

"I'd like that." She laughed, and Kuan could picture her smile in his mind, and the flow of her hair when she tilted it to the side when she thought.

"Well, I will see you in a few minutes."

"I hope you will" she laughed, "come quickly."

"I promise".

* * *

><p><strong>A\N<strong>- it feels right to finish this chapter here, and put an end to my misery. I think it was probably the hardest chapter for me to write. It took me SO LONG, and for that I am so so so sorry guys! ;w;

There really is no excuse.

I want to thank all the new followers, and the people who took time to give me a review.

Oh I love reviews so much! *cough cough* ;)

I hope the next update will be sooner!

Please take time to review this chapter- I really want to know your opinion about it. It was like via dolorosa.

(please review~!)


	9. Chapter 9-Of Bitterness

Chapter 9- of bitterness

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><p>The bitter taste of coffee still lingered on the back of her tongue as warm salty tear dripped silently from her eye. The sun just broke the thick layer of clouds that laid near the horizon and the harsh reality of the situation made itself clear with the sound of quite sobbing and sad head shaking in the background.<p>

The small crowd that had gathered around the fresh grave was slowly withering away, leaving Jia and Ning Kuo alone. Ning Kuo, on all four was breaking the flower bouquets apart, separating each flower from his companion in a neat little pile next to the grave. Salty warm tears fell on the flowers as he re arranged them, planting each flower in the fresh ground of the bare grave. Jia stared at the sunrise; the rays infiltrating the clouds drove the chill out of her bones.

As Ning upstretched, a small patch of colorful flowers was enveloped in the warm rays of the wakening sun.

"It's beautiful" said Jia, putting her hand on his shoulder. Ning cleared his throat once, and wiped his eyes with his hand.

"I thought he'd appreciate it, he was never a person for a dull, gray grave, he would probably like it like this," he stated, "All organized, but still colorful." He took a step away from the grave and looked toward Jia, who was now clutching the handles of her small handbag. He just looked at her for a minute as she shifted her weight from one leg to another, the sun framing his form with a burning orange line. A small smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth lifted some of the gloom that enveloped him like a lover. His hands clutched and unclutched, as if suddenly he was not sure what to do with them, so he pushed them into his pockets without much thought, nodding Jia toward the exit with his head.

"You know what my grandfather would have liked us to do now?" smiled Ning Kuo.

"Go read a book, or the newest 'Literature Today' volume?" Suggested Jia, facing him as they re-entered the bustling life of the city.

Even above the hum of driving cars and talking people she heard him answer.

"You took the words right out of my mouth."

* * *

><p>The bus ride back to the book shop went by swiftly, accompanied by a light chat and long comfort silences. Ning Kuo rested his head on the window, watching the street flow beside the bus.<p>

An old lady who sat in the stool beside them sent Jia small secretive smiles, knowing smiles.

Jia pushed the 'stop' button once, prodding Ning gently. "We are nearly there" she stated and he hummed in response. Maybe he wanted to go home? Maybe he did not want me to drag him all the way to the shop, maybe he just wanted to be alone today. Jia bit her lip with worry. It had seemed so natural for him to come with her; after all they had been in each other's company the whole morning. Maybe he did not want anyone to cheer him up right now. She remembered she didn't, back in the day. Her fingers twitched slightly, and smoothed the long black skirt she was wearing nervously. She didn't want to push herself onto him, especially not today.

She felt his fingers intertwining with her own before she comprehended Ning was holding her hand lightly. She wanted to jerk her hand away from his, but somehow it felt nice, warm. His touch reminded her of a touch she had longed for, a touch she had already forgotten. Her wedding ring seemed to catch the heat he radiated. He smiled sideways at her and nudged her to stand as their stop came to their view and the bus slowed its pace. The light touch had ended as abruptly as it started, and the old lady looked disappointed greatly. Jia looked at her, do I feel disappointment too?

The doors folded to the sides, and cool air rushed to greet their warm flesh as they stepped out of the bus. It was a quiet street, its silence disrupted only when a bus curtly made its way through it. The trees, planted in an organized straight row, were already reddening as autumn touched their leaves softly. For a slight moment Jia felt a sense of longing, the familiar street suddenly felt like stranger or an old friend, seen after years of absence.

The abrupt loud sound of the bus's engine roaring back to life, and the rude sound of the bus's horn disturbing the quite stream of her thoughts made Jia grimaced.

It was already nine o'clock, and the sun was making its way through the sky.

Ning sat down in one of the couches scattered between the heavy shelves, a volume of 'Literature Today' on the small table in front of him, and a heavyset tome on his knees. The shop was closed until noon, it didn't really matter though, because the XXX university students were busy studying for their midterms and their professors were busy writing them.

Jia stood in the tiny kitchen at the back of the shop and made two cups of coffee. She thought about Kuan that was probably already awake and on his way to the 'Second Life' shop accompanied by Li. Jia remembered meeting with Li's parents once, briefly. Li's father, an impressive man, mummified in his expensive well-tailored suit, and Li's mother a coldly intelligent woman clad in an elegant black dress. They had both smiled and talked to her for a while, though it all seemed idly formal for a teacher-parent meeting.

Her fingers reached blindly for her ring, touching the warm metal band always consoled her when slightly distressed. Without much thought she twisted it off her finger and put it in the small pocket of her skirt. Lately it felt tighter than usual. She looked at her hand. The patch of skin under her ring wasn't tanned as the rest of her hand; it looked stark white in comparison.

She carried the cups to the small table, setting them carefully next to the magazine. Ning lifted his eyes from his reading material, following her moves with his gaze. She snuggled into the small sofa at the other side of the table, opening her book and sinking quickly into the tale. She vaguely felt his gaze lingering for a couple of minutes before he turned back to his own book as they both read in silence.

It was a comfortable silence, one engulfed by the simple understanding that emotions and thoughts can be conveyed in silence just as well as in speech.

* * *

><p>Ning had bid her goodbye, and seemed hesitant for a moment before patting her arm fondly and scurrying away, one hand plunged deep inside the pocket of his long coat and the other holding a book. It was all rather awkward like a new routine that they were both not sure how to follow.<p>

She sat in the shop for the next couple of hours, though only a few people came by and left her to her thought rather quickly. The day seemed to stretch on forever, since she rushed into the hospital until she sat herself down on a chair in the familiarity of her apartment. The sky outside turned into a beautiful lush shade of orange, and vaguely Jia thought to herself if Ning saw it too.

Kuan was still out with Li, It was not very late, but a small worry was building inside Jia.

Jia sat up, Yul Jun's eyes staring at her blindly. She locked the door and went to the shower. The silence that shrouded the house felt eerie. Her hair damp and her body clad with a white fluffy towel Jia stepped out to her bedroom. She felt something was amiss but she paid her petty worried no heed. Her image looked at her from the mirror half hidden in her closet. She opened the small wooden door, and looked at herself. Long dark wet hair dangling in a lump, strands of it clinging wetly to her face and shoulders. Yul Jun used to tell her how beautiful she was, and how she radiated when she was smiling, but she didn't feel like smiling at all. Beautiful didn't fit her, maybe handsome or pretty, but never beautiful. Her limbs felt too long, and her shoulders too small, she had gained weight in the last couple of months, something Gui might have encouraged since he always thought she was too thin, but it felt wrong. It was disappointing. She felt uncomfortable in her skin.

She shut the door.

* * *

><p>She held his hand tightly, her fingers intertwined with his own. He felt her arm brush against his own when they walked, and he could smell the faint scent of her shampoo in the air. Her hair was longer then he had remembered, and she had pulled it up with a blue ribbon he vaguely remembered. It felt so wonderfully new and yet it also felt familiar.<p>

Xiu Mi chatted in fluent English while Kuan was trying to answer her as fluently. It was a small reminder that outside their little bubble, outside this park, existed a real world where they had an English test in a couple of days. They walked side by side for a long while, just talking and laughing. Kuan was so immersed with Xiu's presence he failed to notice they were both already standing outside the door of her house.

Xiu said something Kuan didn't quit catch, and then she smiled and poked his forehead. His eyes followed her as she fumbled with her keys, and took a quick glance at him from beneath her long eyelashes.

"Goodnight silly" she said and opened the door. Before the door closed she gave him a last glance. He heard her sister throwing questions at her, and her mom calling her and then he turned around and walked away.

It was getting rather chilly. How stupid was he?

Kuan turned and started walking toward a bus station that would take him home. He felt… skittish. The whole day went horribly wrong, and only Xiu made it brighter with her smile, and her quick talk and her personality. But he felt like he missed a subtle hint, a hint which he didn't catch.

He was on the other side of the park when he heard strained gasps and the sound of someone running just behind him. An alluring tendril of perfume reached his nostrils and he immediately was aware of her return.

In front of him stood Xiu, gasping a bit and pulling small locks of hair back into the ribbon they were all tied in. Suddenly Kuan remembered why that ribbon was familiar. The first day of High school, when she sat next to him so casually after he hadn't seen her for two years, she wore a blue dress that had accented her figure, and showed all the things he had missed while she was abroad in America, where her father was stationed. She had such a wide beautiful smile on her face when she looked at him he could only make out some strangled sounds out of his mouth. That day he snuck out of school and bought her that blue ribbon with his lunch money.

He told her how beautiful she looked, and how much he had missed her. And when he asked her to wait for him, when Li got aggressive toward her she had that ribbon on her head, she told him she will always be there for him, and touched that ribbon so tenderly he thought she might have cried.

Xiu, after her breath evened, stood before him and looked hesitant.

"Umm… My mom asked me to bring this to you" she said and handed him a small carton box he hadn't noticed. His fingers caressed the back of her hands when he took the box she offered him, and he thought that his face could have burst into flames in that second. There were cookies in the box.

"Well..." she looked unsure of what to say.

She straightened up, looked into his eyes, and took a step forward.

"May I kiss you?" It didn't sound like a question at all, and all Kuan could do was stare at her, baffled. He felt his face getting hot, while she smiled sheepishly at him. He gulped and nodded curtly.

Xiu took another step toward him and he closed his eyes. He felt her warm breath on his skin and her hand cup his cheek gently before their lips connected. His lips felt so dry to him, just like his throat and her soft lips sent such a jolt through his body he was surprised he was still standing up.

The kiss was swift and sweet and Kuan was disappointed when it ended. He blindly reached forward and circled her with his arms, searching her warm lips again. He felt her smile more then he saw it when he got closer again, and her soft chuckle when his nose bumped into her own.

He was hesitant. He never kissed a girl on the lips, or anybody else for that matter. He felt a bit awkward and clumsy.

But he thought it was a good sort of confusion. He wanted to be confused if Xiu was confused with him.

* * *

><p>"Jia!" She heard someone call her name. She finished off the Giant black crow she was busy fighting, barely dodging the big black beak that was determent on ripping her wings out. As the giant carcass slowly faded, leaving behind some loot Jia turned around to see no one was there. She did not expect anyone to reach her so quickly when she decided to fly to the brown mountains to fight the giant crows and the bird monsters. She wanted some peace of mind.<p>

"Jia? You there?" she heard the voice call again. She opened her message box and a small icon was flashing.

"Yea I'm here, I didn't know we could really talk through SL's message system… I thought it will just stay chat like."

She could practically feel Gui's smile when he laughed and added "And to think you are the 'Senior gamer' as you'd like to call yourself."

"What can I say? Technology baffles me."

"Where are you, though? All I can see is rocks and some birds… and the finals will begin soon, I hoped you'll be there to cheer us… I know everyone will be glad to have you there, especially Prince." He sounded a bit disheartened by the last comment.

"Oh Gui, you know it's not like that, love" she said softly and wished she was there so he could see how sincere she was.

"No… I mean, I know. Prince…after your fight with the chimera and those wizards, he got so excited, and wanted to find you for a quick battle, but you were gone so quickly he didn't have the time to ask." Gui cleared his throat and continued, " His majesty asked me to ask you for a duel, a formal one. He seems very taken with you."

"Gui goddammit, don't get jealous of me, there is absolutely nothing to be jealous about. I am your friend, and as a friend I can tell you there will NEVER EVER be any kind of interest in Prince on my side. EVER. "

He sounded a bit bitter when he answered, "I know, and I trust you Jia… It's just… this guy here makes me so angry! He just waltzed into my life and he is taking Prince with him. When he enters the room Prince is the first to notice, and the first to greet him. I just can't understand how in a couple of days he became so familiar with his highness!"

"Why don't you just tell Prince how you feel? Why don't you be honest with him? He seems to be the type who will appreciate."

"you know what? I will."

"That's the spirit!"

"I Will!"

"You go and tell him! I'll be at the arena soon!" and with these words and a couple of small determent 'I will's from Gui the conversation was over. Jia sighed, suddenly she felt so tired. What was Prince doing to Gui to make him so jealous and so suspicious?

"I'm going to have a nice long talk with that stupid kid, teach him not to play around with the hearts of my friends." She mumbled angrily as she spread her wings and dived into the creator that lay below the brown mountains. The wind howled in her ears as she dived down with great speed, her wings and body all collected and streatched to create the vision of an arrow shooting down to the slopes of the mountain. Jia felt the muscles of her wings that were not really there flex, it was a weird sensation that the second life engineers had smartly created to enrich the sensations and reality of the game.

Suddenly something hit her hard. She spun uncontrollably in the air, and she saw glimpses of a great big shadow diving after her. Like a meteor she hit the ground hard, and she felt her arm popping out of its socket and her leg twist in a strange angle. The pain was overwhelming. Within the second of the impact Jia had her rapier in her hands, ready to defend herself from the oncoming assault.

She tried to stand up on her leg, which gave up beneath her as the sky above darkened with the arrival of her attacker, a crow the size of an elephant. His sharp beak glistened with blood, was it her blood? She wasn't sure; she could see the small blue portal that got here to the brown mountains flicker behind her. She scrambled to ward the gate, hearing the angry shrieks of the crow behind her. She felt the wind shift and suddenly the great crow appeared before her blocking her way out. What kind of an extra map was that?! Why did that monster attack her with no aggression on her part?

Jia had no time to contemplate on the weird behavior of the NPC monster as the giant beak tried to bite and rip pieces of her. Jia lashed out with _Vengeance of fire_ and hit the greet beak, but it escaped without a scratch. The crow jumped back and opened its beak.

"You dare come to my home, and attack my children?" he looked at her pointedly, spreading his wings wide and shrieked. "How dare you try to maim me? The black king you little roach?! I shall rip out your pretty little wings and let my children feast upon your flesh, you ignorant pigeon!"

Jia looked at him baffled, the king of crows wasn't supposed to talk. He was supposed to be a beast boss, without that particular ability. A shriek echoed between the mountains and the crater, followed by thousands of shrieks.

"Come to me children!" The great crow shrieked as he dived toward Jia.

Stupefied by the events Jia failed to move in time and soon searing hot pain tore her arm apart. The impact of the great beak with her body made her spin into a great rock at the other side of the crater, and she couldn't feel her legs. Her Hp was dangerously low.

The dark king was approaching her quickly, closing the distance between them with a swift batter of his great black wings. Jia's grip on her sword grew tighter as he approached her. Her arm was aflame with hot agony; the muscle must have been ripped.

"Fires of Vengeance, heed my call!" She bellowed, and with the quick beat of her heart her sword came into life. Jia was engulfed by a deep purple inferno, but no heat hurt her. The black king rushed toward her, unable to stop his swift movement. His great feathered body hit her own with great force as he impaled himself on her sword. The flames caught his feathers and his skin with the greedy passion of a lover, burning him to ashes before her eyes. He bellowed as he burned, and Jia crawled toward the portal. She could hear the game announcer shouting happily as she leveled up another level, and she felt a small weight add to her pouch as the loot from the black king automatically transferred to her inventory as she crawled through the portal.

What the hell was that?

Jia lay on the grass before the portal, knowing she was safe out there, panting heavily. The portal winked out of existence leaving her to open in a different area. Stupid map. Stupid mountains, she thought as she uncorked a potion and drank it. The pain dwindled immediately, and her wounds closed, on her upper arm, where a great big bleeding wound used to be, now shined a fresh red scar.

She spread her wings, and readied herself to fly to the arena and grimaced as her muscles protested with agony. She had a promise to keep, she will have to think about this weird accident later.

* * *

><p>When Jia arrived at the arena, there was total silence, stunned silence to be exact.<p>

On the arena's floor laid Prince, his knee bleeding and an arrow jutting out of it and wicked towered above him, his sword pointed toward Prince, his face full of hesitance. Wicked's sword fell to his side, and in the deep silence Jia could hear many people breathing with anticipation.

"Why are you just standing there?!" Prince bellowed and lashed out with his sword, his slash sending a wave of white hot flames at wicked. "I said I wouldn't go easy on you, so I expected you to do the same!" Prince spat.

Jia's gaze averted to Gui who was standing not far from the couple, and his expression told her that he saw what she saw in Prince's gaze. A wild passion blooming within his waiting eyes, glowering relentlessly at Wicked .

"ENIGMA OF THE ECLIPSE, THE SWORD'S LONE STRANGER!" shouted Wicked as he unleashed his attack upon Prince, who in return bellowed "SAVAGE BLADE!", And with that the arena exploded.

The crowed was all on their feet, shouting obscurities to the fighting couple. The slashes and the swings of the fighter were accompanied by White hot flames and blue slashes of energy. They clashed again and again, each player fighting more desperately as each move failed against the other. With a wild shout they lashed out at each other again.

As the air cleared a girl in the crowd screamed. Standing in the middle of the arena were Prince and wicked, standing so close they looked as if they were embracing.

Prince looked down to his chest where Wicked's sword had penetrated his flesh.

"In the end, it was me?" she heard Prince Say.

An angry bellow shook the watchers as Gui turned around when the announcer shouted excitedly into his microphone. Jia saw his eyes go impossibly wide and his skin whiten with shock.

"Prince!" He shouted, as Prince wobbled on his injured leg. "Damn you!" He shouted and released two arrows at wicked.

As the arrows penetrated the helpless knight, buried deep within his flesh, going past his armor as if it was butter, a shadow sneaked toward the injured Prince.

"Prince!" Gui shouted, "BEHIND YOU!"

But Gui's warning was for naught as Feng Wu ching attacked Prince, cutting his back wide open, sending him crashing toward the floor where he turned to a pillar of pure light and shot out to the rebirth point.

From that point on the fight escalated quickly resulting in a great big clash of spells that flattened the entire arena. As the smoke slowly faded Feng wu ching, bleeding and battered stood alone in the arena.

Jia heard a couple of players shout with anger at the announcer who started announcing the victory of dark Phantom. Suddenly a small lump of earth broke, and from within the ground came Lolidragon who stalked close to the injured player and whispered into his ear with a creepy expression.

"Oh~ Looks like you are on the verge of death!"

The whole crowed was stunned as she threw him to the ground, shouting curses at him and stomping him into the ground, where he died.

The silence stretched for a while longer and then the crowed irrupted with scream.

"ODD SQUAD WINS!"

* * *

><p>Jia made her way toward the rebirth point, finding Gui fussing around Prince who sat with his head between his head. The whole group was there minus Lolidragon who was probably making her way from the arena at the moment.<p>

"Prince's head shot up when he saw her coming.

"Did we win, Jia?" he asked hesitantly.

"We WON!" shouted an excited voice behind her. Lolidragon had entered the rebirth point, jumping at Prince and hugging him. The reaction those words had on Prince was immediate, and with his joyous outburst followed the whole group.

Gui's head spun toward her, a big unbelieving smile plastered all over his face as he jumped toward her, crushing her with a happy hug. Jia laughed as Gui spun her in his arms, and danced with her across the floor, twirling her around happily. As he calmed down a bit, and put Jia down back on her feet Jia stayed close to him, half hugging him with her arm.

"Calm down, now, big guy" she smiled at him and plated a kiss on his cheek, gesture which Gui smiled at. She was acting like his mother again. As Gui left her to hop toward Ugly wolf and congratulate themselves upon their great victory, Jia caught a stunned stare directed at her from prince, who turned his head quickly as she caught his gaze.

Her eyebrow arched with wonder.

Gui shouldn't have lost his hope so soon after all, because that little glint in Prince's eyes was definitely jealousy.

* * *

><p>A\N- well, what an eventful chapter. longer then usual too!<p>

I was hoping to get this chapter faster, but my life got in the way. I have a pretty strong idea of what is going to happen from now on! (yay?)

Although I must confess that the next chapter might take a little while to write since I have my job to attend to, and I have to exercise a lot, since the army sent me an invitation for the girl's fighters test!(I was waiting for this I am so excited! I will be recruited into the IDF in a couple of months from now, and I will serve for two years.) But don't worry! The army will not make me abandon Jia and Kuan! I will keep writing, nd I will see this story to the end! This month will be busy, but the next chapter is pretty much already in my mind, so it just might be okay~

Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter~

Have a wonderful evening! (Its 00:17 here...)

I want to thank Yolinare, Pailrose and bleeb90 for giving me such a great feedback~


	10. Chapter 10-Of Realizations

Chapter 10- Of Realizations.

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><p>Sorry for the incredibly long wait, everybody... :<p>

* * *

><p>A week had passed since Jia had last logged into 'Second life'. With the sudden rising of prices all around the country, the shop had to stay opened a little while longer, and when Jia came home each evening she had no time to think about the game, only to kiss her son, eat some food and fall asleep. Gui turned into a regular customer nowadays. Ever since that Wicked guy entered Prince's life an Gui's black list, he came to spend more and more time with Jia and Kuan.<p>

There was no consoling for Gui's broken heart. She had asked if anything else had happened since she had last logged in between them, and his reaction told her everything she had to know, and she felt like hunting Prince down and boxing his ears!

The first day she took him to the small kitchen at the back of the store, and made him a nice cup of tea. He sobbed quietly and apologized a thousand times for his behavior. Apparently Prince was ignoring Gui now. He had no idea what he had done to upset 'His Highness' so much, but his reaction was swift and painful.

Between heartbroken gasps and the tears that fell so openly from his eyes, Gui was left alone to tend to his broken heart.

It was like Anora all over again, and Gui felt it too. Prince wouldn't even beat him up to a pulp anymore. He would talk to him only when necessary, and only the subject he was required to talk to Gui about.

"…And I don't even see him anymore! He was sent to bring more supporters for the city! How can I fix myself if his highness will not talk to me anymore?"

And so Gui found comfort within the walls of the small bookshop. He would usually sit on the small padded couch in front of the large window, basking in the sun. He was always knee deep in some kind of school work. When he'd take breaks from his work he'd sit with Jia, resting his head on her shoulder, talking with her about random things. And the days rolled by.

The sky was cloudy that day, with a whispered promise of rain, and a caressing breeze. Ning too would stop by a lot these days. He was very surprised to find Gui there half sleeping on Jia's shoulder when he first stopped. When he came Jia felt as if time traveled too fast, and their meetings were always cut short due to some errands and duties Ning had to perform. But when Ning had the time to stay, he'd drag a chair from one of the tables and sit next to Jia with a book on his lap. When they were not talking she felt her eyes slide to him. Small glimpses from time to time, only to see he was alright, she reassured herself. Gui would always look at Jia sideways, a slight quirk to his lips, and an eyebrow slightly lifted. Those small glimpses earned him a smack on his arm.

She felt like a silly school girl, and it was upsetting her.

Just because a handsome man came to talk to her doesn't mean anything at all, even if Gui would offhandedly state from times to times that Indeed Ning was single, and apparently turning down offers he got from the ladies. It meant nothing, even if it sent small waves of warmth up her neck.

The door opened and cold wind lifted the hem of Jia's long velvet skirt. Gui entered the shop quickly, running hurriedly behind the book shelves and pulling his scarf up to his nose, hiding his face.

"Jia! I'm not here!" he whispered.

The door opened again and a girl stuck her head in.

"Did'ya see a tall man running by here, miss? He has short black hair and an orange scarf." She took a deep breath, "He runs fast too."

From the corner of her eye Jia saw Gui trying to seem smaller, as he waved for her, pleading for her silently for mercy.

"Yes I have." Jia stated, "He ran up the street and turned to the left, a minute or two ago."

"Thank you miss!" The girl breathed hastily, as she turned her head and shouted to someone who waited down that road, "The professor went that way!" and with that she charged ahead, accompanied by a hoard of girls.

Gui waited a few moment until he let himself slither out of his shelter and onto the chair waiting for him next to Jia.

"So…"

"Don't even ask, Jia." He stated, seeming dead serious.

She cleared her throat and Gui relaxed as they spent a few minutes in utter silence, he could see as the comment Jia was dying to say edged closer to her lips.

"Girl problems?" She finally burst.

"Jia!" Gui stated angrily, and scoffed at her.

"Oh, as if you did not know it was coming!"

He grunted. "Infinite city attracts a lot of players nowadays, and apparently there are little fan clubs forming for us." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Geez, it never stops! They are after me in game and now they discovered where I work! I cannot get a single moment of silence!"

"Oh, my poor baby." Jia smiled mischievously.

"Oh don't patronize over me! You have the same thing waiting for you, Miss bloody Phoenix!"

"What?" Jia stuttered.

Gui smiled smugly at her, "After the fight you had at the arena people started paying more attention to you."

"Paying attention how exactly?"

"You never took care of your security options, so now most of the players can watch videos of your fighting sessions with the monsters."

"Bu…what?"

"You are becoming quite famous with the players. Like a cool role model with a bloodied sword? I think the one they liked the best is your arena fights. All of them to be exact, you can watch them on the official page of 'Second Life' with a click of your mouse. They have a special page for well-known players. I think you are ranked sixth in the 'fame' list." Prince is number three now. Unfortunately for me I am number 9."

Jia sighed. She didn't need such attention at times like this; she had work and taxes to pay, and a family to take care of. She felt the familiar weight of Gui's head sinking on her shoulder.

"I tried telling Prince I loved him." Gui spoke abruptly "He didn't even let me finish my words before he ran away." He sighed deeply. Jia could feel small drops of water soaking into her shirt. "I don't have the strength to do this anymore, Jia, but my heart will not leave Prince alone. I tried letting go—" His sentence was stopped due to his ragged breath-" But I just can't. I can't do this."

"Oh Gui…" Jia turned in her seat and hugged him. She felt his arms circling her and clutching to her, like a lost child. "It started as a joke, but I fell in so deep, and I don't know if I can get out of it anymore." Jia hugged him tightly. "I need a break from all of this." He sniffed and broke away from their hug. "A time away from Prince, to rearrange my mind, and who knows? He might actually notice I am missing." He sat up, kissed Jia's cheek and walked away from the shop. She wanted to shout everything was going to be alright, she wanted to help, to show him not every relationship he'll have will end up with the heart break he got from that stupid girl Anora. But she missed her chance, and Gui was already out of the door.

There is a fine line between ignorance and brutality, and Prince crossed that line a long time ago.

* * *

><p>A cold breeze was blowing, and Xiao lan tightened her warms scarf around her slender neck. Her bag felt heavy, and she felt weary. The Test season was approaching quickly, and the resent tasks in 'Second life' were not making her life any easier. She had no time to see her friends anymore, and she was getting more and more strained with every day passing, not to mention her sudden voyage to the eastern continent. But she was committed to Infinite city, and nothing will stop her from making it the greatest city 'Second life' has ever seen!<p>

She was walking with a different route to her house that day. She passed through a small street, and walked in a street she had never been to. There were many trees along the road, their red foliage decorating the sidewalk like drops of crimson blood.

She fished her small ipod from her pocket and changed the song; the strong voice of Bon Jovi entered her ears, elating her mood. She half sang half hummed the song, as she walked. She saw someone walking in front of her on the side walk, his orange scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, and a pair of thick black reading glasses on his nose, Gui looked miserable.

Lan ignored the twang of regret she felt, and let her anger and annoyance consume her. She didn't want to see how red and puffy his eyes were and how miserable he looked, especially because she knew it was her fault. He can go hug and dance with whoever he wants, and it absolutely didn't bother her. Not at all.

She wished he'd just walk right past her, she wished he wouldn't notice her at all.

"Feng Xiao Lan" He murmured in recognition and nodded his head toward her. His gestures all seemed so lifeless and worn-out. He stopped in front of her looking as if he had something to say, but with a sharp intake of breath his eyes filled with tears and he looked away from her.

I hate you.

She heard him mutter a curse as a group of girls emerged from the curve down the street. Xiao lan scoffed at them, and at him. He had girls running all around him now, great. But although she was trying to convince herself he was receiving what he deserved a strong sense of self resentment awakened within her. She looked after Gui as he hurried down the street, she could see the tears rolling down his cheeks, soaking into his scarf and she snapped.

"PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, PROFFESOR!" she shouted after him. Gui turned his head and looked at her, an expressions of surprise momentarily washing away the misery from his face. Before she knew what she was doing she was running away the other direction as quick as her legs could carry her. She felt as if her lungs could not contain the oxygen she so desperately needed and chilling fear hit her. She turned while she ran and stopped in a small alley, gasping for breath, wondering at which point she had started to cry.

* * *

><p>With a silent click the lock slid into place, shutting the book store for the day. The lights were already on, shining brightly in the dim lighted street, projecting a sense of familiarity onto the street. Jia dragged her legs up the stairs, her head felt too light, and her body too heavy and her throat was sore. After Gui had left there was a steady stream of customers, which kept her busy up until the late hours of the afternoon. Jia coughed once and sniffed, she must be tired, that's all. The mail box that stood near the door had a letter in it, which Jia fished out and took inside the house.<p>

She heard muffled voices from the living room. Was Li home with Kuan? When she thought about it, she had not seen li in a week, which must have been a new record for their separation. Li was never away for long. She threw the letter on the small kitchen table, and sent a fleeting look at Yul Jun who was still smiling into the empty space carelessly while she made her way into the living room.

On the thick rug rested kuan and a girl who looked oddly familiar to Jia, they were both playing an old Zelda game that belonged to Jia, and talking about random stuff while correcting each other on the proper way to kill a moblin.

"Ahha!" shouted the girl victoriously as her avatar slayed the poor unaware monster. Her arms circled Kuan in a quick hug, and for Jia's surprise he looked at the girl and kissed her nose lovingly.

Xiu Mi, the name popped in her head. She remembered that pretty teenager as a little girl. Kuan loved her ever since he was a little boy. A secretive knowing smile bloomed on Jia's face, things were going Kuan's way finally.

"Would you like some tea?"

They both jumped, their faces turning deep scarlet, and Xiu Mi scooted a bit to the side. Kuan looked at her and smiled. "Mom, this is Xiu Mi, my girlfriend" he smiled broadly, and she saw Xiu Mi turning a deeper shade of scarlet, "and we'd love some tea."

She smiled at them, and winked at Kuan as she turned to make some tea. She heard them talk lightly and smiled. They reminded her of herself when she an Yul Jun just met. The kettle was sitting comfortably on the stove and Jia leaned against the counter, a wave of tiredness washing over her. She heard the water starting to bubble and suddenly her head felt heavy, too heavy for her body to carry. She clutched her head in both her hands, when a bolt of hot pain shot through her. She felt as if a metal rod hit her lower back. She toppled over and tried to scream but no voice came out of her sore throat, she desperately tried to grab something to stabilize herself. She leaned on the small table, urgently grabbing the flat surface as her stomach convulsed once again and she felt bile rise up her throat. Jia tried to stand up and call Kuan for help but all she managed to do was fall to the ground and hug her knees.

She heard Kuan and Xiu Mi run to the kitchen but she had no strength to lift her head.

"MOM! Oh my god! Xiu, turn off the flames!" he shouted, clearly panicked from the poor state of his mother.

"It's going to be alright Kuan…" Jia murmured, and then everything blurred.

She remembered Kuan's voice, and that strange men came to the house and carried her away, why were they bothering her? She felt so light here, and so nice. Through the sunny day she was floating in struck lightning of pain breaking her peace completely. She tried to clutch her stomach desperately; she wanted the pain to stop but she had no strength to move.

And the day slowly faded into darkness.

* * *

><p>Gui dragged his legs through the supermarket aisles, trying to pull his orange scarf higher up his nose. He wasn't sure if people recognized him without his trademark long purple hair and his usual 'second life' attire, but he couldn't take any risks.<p>

The metal basket dangling from his arm held a bar of Lavender scented soap, a bottle of shampoo, and a can of canned ravioli in tomato sauce. He didn't even have the strength to cook for himself, and it made him feel even more pitiful.

His eyes were bloodshot and he had dark circles around them, playing 'second life' for hours, trying to find Prince and have a serious talk with him took a toll on his sleeping hours. He felt stupid, like a lovesick puppy.

Goddammit! He used to have girl throwing themselves at him! In class there was usually one girl not paying attention just to look at him! And now he was the lovesick girl, pining for the man he could never have.

Prince was a boy, a childish, egoistic, violent, moody, mysterious, beautiful, smart, resourceful, stupid boy. He loved him so much, and he hated him so so much. It might have been a punishment from the gods, he decided, for him to fall in love with a boy like that.

The music and the supermarket faded slowly, and Gui decided that it was time to take matters to his own hands. 'If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain. It was time to stop acting like a fool. It was his time to be serious and to show Prince he could be so much more.

Like the universe was backing him up, a new song started beating, and it was just perfect. He looked up, straightening his slouching posture with newfound spirit. The minute Prince will be back from the eastern continent Gui will seize the moment. He smiled broadly at the old lady who sent him weird looks from across the aisle and marched to the cashier, who too seemed a bit bewildered by his quick change of attitude. He added a packet of mint flavored gum to his small pile of groceries as his phone vibrated in his pocket. The cashier handed him his change and his groceries wrapped up in a paper bag when he fished his phone out of his back pocket.

He wasn't expecting any call, and it was getting late. The caller ID wasn't on and he did not recognize the number. His fans did not discover his phone number, did they? He silently prayed they did not.

"Good evening" he greeted the unidentified caller.

Someone sniffed across the line, "Gui?"

"Kuan?" he sounded bad, "Is everything alright?"

Kuan took a deep breath.

"No, I need your help, mom and I are at the hospital, and you are registered as her emergency contact."

"What happened?" He asked, worried.

"Could you please just come? I don't know what is going on and the doctors are all busy doing stuff and they won't talk to me! Please?"

With a couple of reassuring words, Gui was already hauling a cab and was on his way.

* * *

><p>"This really cannot be happening to me."<p>

"Mrs. Lang-"

"When my husband died it stopped! I was told I will never be able to have another child! It didn't happen for about ten years, why the hell is it happening now?!" Jia was distressed, her breath coming in short strained gasps, her hands clutching her stomach, protecting it.

The truth was Jia was not so sure how to deal with her newfound ability.

"Mrs. Lang, sometimes emotional trauma can be the cause of barrenness, and it takes several years to heal, if it heals at all. Some women and men never heal from such ordeals." Said the doctor, Jia did not bother to remember his name, so many of them came and left she didn't bother anymore.

Another sharp pain came and she flinched and doubled over.

"Mrs. Lang medication will help you to feel better, it is expected that after such a long time…dormant…the cramps will feel more violent than ever." Said the doctor pleadingly but Jia shook her head, she wanted to know it was there, she needed to know it was there, and that with every crump, with every sharp pain shooting up her spine, she needed to confront a certain truth. Her body had accepted Yul Jun's death.

She was terrified. Even in death, he was her anchor, her safety resort.

But as they pain subsided she did not feel any relief, only a thick blanket of blankness settling over her.

"Leave me."

"Mrs. Lang—"

"Leave me, please" she cut him.

The nurse who came in with the doctor touched his arm and shot him a meaningful look, dragging him out her room. The nurse took a brief peek at Jia as her door closed and nodded toward her in understanding.

Jia managed to smile a small weak smile at her as the door closed.

Kuan was taken by one of the nurses to the hospitals cafeteria. He refused to go at first, too worried to leave his mother's side but the loud grumbles of his stomach were enough to confirm the nurse's suspicion, so accompanied by another nurse they had both dragged him away, letting the small trickle of doctors try and explain to Jia why the hell her uterus started responding to her brain.

She leaned back, falling onto the soft pillows, and willed her period to stop. She couldn't have children. She came to accept that after Yul Jun died. She wanted to claw into her stomach and take out the traitorous organ. It took her months to even understand she was no longer capable of having another child, and about a year to come to terms with that one simple fact.

And here were her long months of crying, suffering, disbelieving and despair swept aside by doctors who told her 'these things happen'.

The door opened with a soft click, and Gui shaggy head peeped inside, when his eyed landed on his friend, covered in white, her face pale and black circles around her eyes, his face turned white. He entered and sat in the vacant seat next to her bed, grabbing her hand, to convince himself, it was really her in the hospital bed.

"Kuan called you" She stated.

"Everything is going to be alright" he reassured.

"I don't-"

"You will get out of this,"

"Gui…"

" …and everything will be alright in no time, you are a strong woman!"

"Gui-"

"Nothing can take you down!"

"Gui..."

"…And whatever it is that is wrong will be fixed! You will be absolutely fine!"

"GUI!" She cut him with a swift shout, "Not everything can be fixed! It's ruined! I'm ruined!"

"What…-"

"I can have children now, Gui! I am capable of having children! After all these years, my body decided it was time for me to have another!"

"How is that possible?" he asked quietly.

Tears streamed down Jia's face, and her head fell miserably onto her hands.

"I don't know."

"All of these years since Yul Gege died…. What happened then?"

"I don't know." She cried.

Gui stood up and sat next to her in bed, cradling her in his arms, reassuring her that not everything changed as she mourned the betrayal she felt. "What do I do now?" she asked quietly, holding onto Gui for dear life. "You do nothing." He said, confidence laced his voice, "You accept that something about you had changed, and you move on with your life."

"But I can't leave him like that, I can't abandon him…"

"Yul gege will never be lost to you", he said, and she clung to his every word. "He will never be gone, because he is always with you in here." He said, petting her head with affection. ", and in your heart." He added with a lopsided grin. She smiled weakly; he knew she hated those clichés.

"The people we love are never really lost if we keep them in our minds, you know you love him, and that you cherished him. Sometimes the decisions of the body are a path being created for the mind." and with that she just kept hugging him, her muscled relaxing, and her breath turning even.

"The nurses told me you won't take pain relievers." He said after a while.

"Hmm." She groaned at him.

"You should take them, Jia, if not for yourself, or for me, take at least some for Kuan, he sounded deeply distressed when he called me."

She sighed and slid out of their embrace.

"Tell the nurse I'll take it."

"Now, that's a good girl." Smiled Gui, as she stuck her tongue out at him.

Another twenty minutes passed by as the pain relievers kicked in, meanwhile Gui sat next to her eating some canned raviolis out of the can he had in a plastic bag with his fingers. The doctor came in and left, while stating she will have to stay in the hospital for a few days, so they can monitor the amount of blood she lost, and replenish it.

Kuan came back a slight blush covering his face. As it turns out he was passed around by the nurses who all but admired hi beauty. It always made him uncomfortable when people stated he was pretty.

He sat on jia's bed, his head resting on her shoulder, while she petted his head affectionately. He was much calmer since he broke into the room and all but shook the doctor and demanded an explanation. In Jia's opinion he had every right to be pissed off after the doctors all but waved him away while checking her state.

"You both should go home and sleep" she tried once more, but the calm glare Gui shot her and 'Not a chance in the world, mom' she got from Kuan stated a different opinion on the matter. And so the time drifted.

Kuan fell asleep on her shoulder, exhaustion and worry taking their toll on him. Jia envied him, she was exhausted after the long day she had.

"Could you sing to me Gui?" Jia asked sleepily.

"What?" He asked, blushing a bit.

"Pretty please?" She asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes toward him.

"You know I don't really sing anymore, Jia.."

"Oh nonsense, you sing just fine. Now sing, I am using my hospital privileges!" She pouted. To say Gui sang 'fine' was an understatement, really. He had a wonderful singing voice, though his voice had a raspy quality to it. Like a well-known rock star. He used to sing all the time when he was younger, and she's tease him about it. Yul Jun always laughed and said that if he'd ever lose interest with the academy he could easily become a singer. But his choice of career never got him a lot of opportunities to show off his vocal cords to anyone, and so his secret was kept by Jia, his jealous fan. He used to sing to Anora too, she loved his voice. When he came back from the exchange student program, heartbroken and betrayed, he simply stopped singing.

So now when he opened his mouth and gave up to Jia's selfish whims, his voice cracked a bit. But he sang, and sang until Jia's eyelids could no longer stay open, her head fell softly onto the pillow, her long hair spilling over it. When she finally fell asleep Gui knew what he had to do.

He fished out his phone, and sent a text message to Lee Tian Lang, who must be logging into 'second life' soon enough. As Ugly wolf, he always had enough of his charisma and his lovely personality in addition to his menacing looks that anybody will abode to his wishes.

**'Jia in hospital, I'm with her and her son at the hospital, tell the group. I might be absent for a couple of days. Need to talk to you and Yulian though, rather urgently. See you tomorrow at 8?'**

While the message arrived to Tian Lang, Gui was reciting the lyrics of an old song he liked, humming the quietly, filling the stark room with something akin to homeliness. And for the first time in a week, he felt truly happy.

* * *

><p><strong>A\N-<strong> Aaaaaaaaaaand, sleep. Yet again I have to apologize for the lateness of this chapter. But hey! It is a bit longer than planned…and I will FINALY be able to write a scene that was hopping around in my head for weeks! Thank you readers, and the new readers joining us!

Please don't forget to leave a review; it really is crucial for me. I want to improve, and make this fic the best I can. It's my first one so please feel free to write thoughts and whatever you'd like!

With great love, and sleepiness,

~Trogmorten.


	11. Chapter 11-Of Invasions

Chapter11- Invasions.

* * *

><p>Xiu Mi set the steaming cup on the table in front of Jia, who sat behind the counter at the book shop. She couldn't possibly lose working days, she thought tiredly. After being at the hospital or three days, Jia got home to receive an angry looking letter, written with bold red letter, stating that she could no longer postpone her tax paying.<p>

It wasn't like she wasn't paying them, but it was getting harder and harder to close the month. The computer took over the need to actually buy the books she was doing her best to sell. She waited desperately for a bestseller to appear and send a reviving wave of customers to resurrect the little book shop. She needed something.

Xiu Mi and Kuan spent most of their time at the shop, it didn't matter whether they were helping customers, arranging the books, cleaning the small tables or just hanging out there, they were always together. She held her long hair with a small shiny ribbon, which she touched a lot when she thought no one was looking, making sure it was still on her head.

Jia was instructed to 'take it easy'. Even though the cramps had been reduced to vague aches, she was still ordered to take medication which made her head a little bit lighter then she'd wanted it to be, and sleepy, very sleepy.

A great yawn cracked her jaws opened as she tried to thank Xiu Mi for the lovely cup of tea, but all that came out was a semi growl. Xiu Mi smiled sweetly at her, her pink blouse making the small blush on her face more evident to her eyes. Jia agreed with Kuan the girl was very sweet.

Jia glanced at the clock, it was about time for Gui to be done with his lessons at XXX university for the day, and like a highly functioning clock, Gui entered the door of the shop right after Jia looked away from the it. After Gui entered a flock of screeching girls. His fan club seemed to tail him everywhere he went, fortunately for her, Gui knew how to take advantage of the situation. At the end of the day every girl usualy left with a book or two more then she intended to end up with. With a small smile here, a good recommendation there, Jia and Gui managed to make the sales increase bit by bit.

It helped a lot that they were both well-known because of 'Second Life', and now with the strange disappearance of Prince from the central continent the other day, the fangirls turned they little love struck heads toward the next bishie available.

In that case, Gui, who had discovered where his fangirls were getting all the inside information about him- a quickly growing chat room\ fansite worshipping the ground he walked in, which was managed by a female student from one of his many classes. It did not bother him as much as it previously did. With a swift smile glued onto his face his fans kept a reasonable breathing space around him.

The girls who currently entered the shop hid behind one of the shelves as they giggled and tried not to gossip too loudly, a thing they were failing miserably at. When the sudden realization dawn upon them with the not-so-hushed whispered of "NOW WAY!", one brave girl was pushed by her friends out to the open. She sent a menacing glare to them as they urged her with their eyes to walk up to Gui and Jia who were sitting together at the counter. She straightened her clothes and her posture, trying to stretch her meager height to impressive looking lengths.

Jia heard Gui take a little exasperated breath as she stood before them. He took his black reading glasses of his face, and placed a soft fangirl-melting smile on his face. "How may I help you?" he asked politely, although Jia noted his long fingers were drumming on the spine of his book, and his eyebrow was twitching slightly. He didn't liked to be pestered in the middle of his tasks.

The fangirl sent a fleeting look at him and cleared her throat.

"Miss?" she asked. Jia looked up, surprised and pointed at herself.

"Me?"

"Are you by any chance the Bloody Phoenix?" she asked. Jia felt her hands clutching her silken brown skirt with nervousness.

"Ahm," she cleared her throat, at Gui surprised look, "Yes, I am. Do I know you?" she asked politely. Up until now Gui was the stalked one since Jia could hide behind her long flowing hair and her small pair of elegant reading glasses.

"Oh my god! My boyfriend adores you!" she said excitedly, and searched her pockets for something. "He showed my all of you fighting clips! You are really amazing, ya know?"

"Really elegant! Like a deadly dancer!" piped one of the girls hiding behind the book shelf. The girl in front of her finally found what she was searching for and fished out her phone. "Do you mind if I take a picture with both of you? My friends at school will die of jealousy!" she said, her voice reaching new hights.

Jia took a sideway look at Gui who laughed quietly at the alarmed look Jia had on her face.

"Sure we'd love to, won't we Jia?" he winked at her.

"S-Sure.." she mumbled nervously.

"Ohhhh too bad Ji Yong couldn't be here for this! He'd be so happy! He really idolizes The 'Odd squad', you know, winning Infinite city single handedly."

After they took a photo with the girl, and signed a piece of paper she took out of her bag for her boyfriend "Who will be at the seventh heaven" for such a small thing. The group huddled when the girl returned triumphantly to their hideout behind the shelf.

"You just wait" Said Gui, "In a second or so they will tweet about this, and the internet will be full of this picture." He laughed and bit a biscuit that rested next to Jia's cup of tea. "In a couple of moments at least five more people will come in here and only take a peek at you, and then they will just leave."

And true to his words, a couple of moments after the girls left, a small group of boys and girls stopped outside the book shop and looked around, as if searching for something. They took a long look at their phone and turned their heads, where their eyes fell upon the Bard and the Phoenix.

Jia wished she'd just disappear after they all came in and asked for her autograph.

"How'd you learn to fight like that?!" asked one boy, "You weren't in 'Second life for almost two weeks! Are you out with Prince in a different continent?", asked another.

"Ughhh…." She managed to repeat weakly.

They all looked at her like their absolute attention was fixed on her, waiting for a real answer, since 'Ughhh' did not satisfy them.

"I learned how to fight from my…ugh...Late…husband, we used to play video games all the time. You know" she looked at them pointedly, "The legend of Zelda and stuff… it sticks to you."

They all nodded their heads with the notion of complete understanding that was taken and stored in their heads. Jia looked sideways at Gui who pretended to be deep in his book, while all he really did was laugh a bit at Jia's expanse. She kicked his shin and to her satisfaction she heard a small curse escaping him.

After a while she excused herself from the eager company and left Gui to fend for himself. She rearranged some of the books that were left abandoned by the customers. She heard the doorbell ring and she really hoped the fans had enough excitement for one day. She stretched her back and unsurprisingly sharp pain flashed through her spine. She cursed silently.

"That's not something I hear from you on regular days" stated an amused voice behind her.

With his hair parted stylishly, a big brown sweater worn over a stark white button up shirt and a pair of well-fitting black dress pants, Tai Ning was the last person Jia wanted to hear her curse.

"I haven't seen you in a while." She stated her hands on her hips. She sort of expected him to come see her at the hospital like some romantic nonsense she had once read, but the universe was not cooperating with her on those terms.

"I heard about what happened" He said, taking a couple of steps toward her, but kept a reasonable distance between them that Jia wanted to close.

"Yet you didn't come." She hoped she sounded nonchalant and not a bit bitter like she felt. Gui was such a telltale. She turned and set the books in their right places. The hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention as a hot breath blew on them. She hoped Tai Ning could not see the heat rising up her cheeks.

"As a matter of fact," she heard him say, his breath tingling her ear, " I did come, but by the time I managed to find your room you didn't need the medical attention."

"Oh" she said dumbly.

"Yea" he laughed.

She turned toward him, a bit stupefied by his closeness. He looked a bit unsure for a moment and peered at her, clearing his throat. He raised his hand, and gave a light jiggle to the plastic bag he was holding.

"I bought a 'Second life' Set." He stated.

For the second time that day the only thing she could think of saying was 'Oh'.

"Can I meet you? In game, I mean."

"I'd like that"

"Really?" he looked hopeful.

"Of course I would, why wouldn't I?"

She wished for the conversation to take a turn toward a different subject, because the few stumbled and mumbled sentences they swapped could not be called a serious conversation between two adults. The moment stretched toward an awkward silence.

"Ahem"

Jia turned toward Gui, her savior who decided to interfere at the right moment.

"I should…go…" Said Jia, pointing toward Gui with her thumbs to make it perfectly she was not leaving just to run away from him. Although it was perfectly obvious she was.

"Yea." Tai Ning answered, He too looked a bit annoyed with his reactions. "I should start moving soon too… I have Some Tests to grade…and…stuff" he finished lamely.

"Yea"

"Well…"

"Bye?"

"Bye Jia" He said and shot her a dazzling smile. A moment later he was out of the door, Gui's laughter echoing throughout the shop was the only sound he could hear after him., and the dull 'thunk' that pointed Jia had thrown a well-aimed magazine at his silly head.

"I have some tests to grade and STUFF?"He groaned. Ning felt like a complete idiot.

* * *

><p>As the world sizzled into view, and the familiar weight of her rapier back in hand, Jia felt prepared. The fabricated sun shone brightly over Infinite City, and the new rebirth point where she stood was stark white. She spread her wings behind her with relief, it felt good to have them again. Her message box, that lingered at the corner of her vision glowed, indicating she had unread messages. A couple of very confused slightly angry messages from Hawk who demanded to know where she had disappeared to, and a very urgent message from Gui who needed her at the central castle as soon as possible, she spread her golden wings and with a strong push she had plunged herself into the sky. People along the way pointed at her, and some even shouted that silly nickname she was now stuck with. She swooped down the streets of the half built city and soared into the sky, enjoying the feeling of the wind gliding around her. She took a quick glance around her and halted.<p>

Beyond the Great city's walls, far at the distance she could make a strange silhouette. It looked like a great army of big black ants, creeping their way toward the city with a slow pace. She tried looking at it again, and everything fell into place. In about a half a day, Infinite city, now leaderless, as the City's master was at another continent, will be attacked and possibly conquered.

She never flew as fast as she did that moment and until her impressive dive through an open window into the conference room. Yulian, Lolidragon, Uglywolf and a men with a large tattoo on his face went abruptly quite at her blunt intrusion.

"Troops gathering- half a day—thought you had to know" she managed to say between labored gasps.

"it's good to have you here, Jia" nodded Yulian toward her. They had always got along well since Jia took a liking to the young lady the moment she started bossing Prince around.

"Likewise" she nodded to the group who seemed to have been in a middle of a heated conversation.

"The invading forces are Fan's men" said the large man and took a step toward her. "It is an honor to finally meet you in person, Bloody Phoenix, I have heard many praises of you."

She managed to stammer a quick 'Thank you' as he continued to talk.

"The name is Nan Gong Zui Captain of the 'Righteous blades'" he said sternly and shook her hand firmly, and she returned it with just as much strength the he had mustered. A small smirk tugged at the edges of his lips. She was living up to her name.

Suddenly Gui burst into the room.

"This is bad!" he half shouted.

"now what?!" snapped Yulian, who seemed to have a rather bad day.

"Wicked said that Princes return may be delayed!"

Gui was talking to Wicked openly. It seems the situation was direr then Jia had initially thought. The group did not delay over his words. They have already set their minds of flunking the infuriating attempt of invading, with prince or without him.

"How can the soldiers fight without their leader" asked Lolidragon, "Their moral will plummet!". That statement seemed to deflate everyone in the room, because it was the simple truth. Most of the soldiers and players had pledged their loyalties to Prince, and with his absence they may be more reluctant to take a sword in hand and fight over the unfinished city.

"I'll take his place" she said suddenly. They all gave her weird looks. "I might as well use my new nickname and statues and put them to use". The looks did not change much.

She mustered all the "I-am-all-of-your-senior-and-you-will-show-me-the-respect-i-deserve" aura, he hands planted firmly on her hips. "I played war and tactic games before some of you were even born! I know my way around the battlefield!"

"I second that" Said nan Gong Zui, "With your permission" he looked at Jia " I wish to help in these matters".

She grinned at him. All the nervousness she felt a moment ago had melted away. She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. He took her trust and respect with a nod and turned toward the rest of the group.

Jia cleared her throat, all the notions that once indicated she was a simple book shop lady that hid behind the shelves of her shop had melted away, leaving the die-hard gamer.

From that point on she and nan gong Zui moved as a team, giving every player present a task to be executed in the next span of two hours. Ugly-wolf was sent to command the fortification team, Lolidragon was sent to get intelligence reports on the approaching army, Yulian was to command on the ammunition and potion stocks, Gui was sent to spread an emergency call through the guilds and forums of 'Second Life' as well as all of the fan sites that were rapidly popping around the net.

And true to their word, as two hours passed, Jia and Nan Gong Zui, standing on the large balcony, faced a humming crowd of 700 players. The great city's walls sprouted huge pots filled with tar and oil, and an invisible wall of tight spells and element manipulation stood up, maintained by the new mage's Guild that had taken residence inside the city's walls.

She looked at the crowd and took a breath. All of those players were about to throw themselves into a war that was not theirs to fight, and the city's lord was absent. She had to fill his shoes, even if he was not worth her time in her opinion. They all trusted her.

She took another deep breath and opened eyes she was not aware of closing.

"What kind of words does it take to inspire young men and women to suit up for their City, their home and risk their lives in war?" Said Jia aloud, and the crows silenced.

"We all gather, in this time of need, to fight, to protect and to be the courageous few who will fight for their home! We want to see, at the break of tomorrow's dawn the shining walls of our beloved city standing still, with pride!"

The crowed stirred.

"Rise up, warriors, take your stand at one another's sides, our feet set wide and rooted like oaks in the ground." She said and pointed beyond the gates, "They have been led here by mewling infants instead of leaders, basking in their petty jealousy, now they will pay the price! I do not intend this to be a fair fight, not at all. As we are going to fall upon them without warning! " She said with vigor.

"We will strike at their weakest points! This won't be a battle – But a victory that will forever be the source of awe and inspiration! Let them storm the walls! Let them try and breach our gates!" She shouted, as the crowed started to come alive beneath her.

"Shall we show them the true spirit of Infinite City?! Will we bow our head in defeat and lay down as our enemies destroy our labor?! Even as the city's lord is away, Will we surrender?"

"NEVER!" Came the deafening roar of the crowd  
>"Show me! Show me your SPIRIT! Show me your HEART! SHOW ME YOU'RE LOYAL, and WE SHALL EMERGE AS VICTORS!"<p>

They roared, and slammed their weapons at their shields, the noise was overwhelming, but Jia felt alive.

"Then rise! Rise my warriors! Rise to see the enemy run with their tails between their legs! Defend our City! For Our home! For our Lord!"

"DO WE BOW OUR HEADS?" She asked for the last time, and the crowd, already humming as one unit, as one living creature shouted their responses.

"WE BOW OUR HEADS TO NO MAN!" Jia threw her hand in the air, her rapier shining brightly in the sun, her breathing coming out in short rugged gasps, Adrenaline buzzing in her ears. She stood there for a couple of minutes, feelin the sounds rise and fall like a great ocean, setting the air on fire.

She stepped back into the room, her wings sending last flashes of crimson and gold to the soldiers. She set down on a nearby chair, as she heard Nan Gong Zui order them all into their battalions and into their places.

A golden helmet and a couple pieces of golden armor clinked as Yulian put them on the table next to Jia. Yulian just smiled at jia's questioning gaze.

"Prince is not here to lead the troops" she said simply.

Jia nodded and donned the new pieces of garment and armor.

"True to your name," said Yulian as Jia turned toward her, "You look like a phoenix".

* * *

><p>Sharp splinters shot through the air like knife-sharp bullets as the gate finally caved and the magical barriers fell. Jia pushed the pain to the back of her mind, none of this was real. How could the barriers fall?! They were supposed to be fully maintained by the magicians' guild!<p>

The protecting forces started to drain toward the central tower as the invading forces pushed them into the streets. She flapped her wings desperately. The tower could not fall!

She landed in a dull thud near Nan Gong Zui, and pain shot through her legs. Her HP meter looked rather empty, and she was starting to feel fatigue creeping up on her.

A tall blond man stood before the forces, a cocky grin plastered on his smug face.

"Fan…" She heard Zui hiss with disgust.

So this was their general, thought Jia. She wanted to punch the arrogant asshole and break that pretty little nose of his.

"Surrender quietly," Fan smiled, "And I might consider giving you a minor post". She felt Zui tense next to her. He took a threatening step toward the man, and spat at his feet.

"DREAM ON!" he bellowed, his voice echoing down the streets and alleys of Infinite city.

At the corner of her eye something shot toward them, and her instincts acted before she had completely grasped what had happened. "WATCH OUT!" she heard Lolidragon shout and her arms shot up to protect Zui from the incoming attack.

The Long metal stick Crashed into her forearms with great force and she grit her teeth. As the enemy faltered at her quick thinking her hands shot out and grasped the metal rod, wrenching it out of the attacker's hands with a strong tug. She quickly turned the sharp curved point of the rod, that was originally intended to stab Zui through his heart, toward the attacker, and with a quick move she planted her boot in the middle of the attacker's chest.

She heard a feminine yelp as the sharp tip of the weapon was pushed mercilessly to her throat. Jia took a look at Zui. The weapon could have already piercde his heart by his expression, as he mumbled "Ice Phoenix?!".

"You know her?" asked Jia, a bit dumfounded. The girl on the ground, her cute blue and yellow dress now stained with dirt, tried to get up and Jia sent her a fierce glare.

A girl with dark hair and a power crystal strapped to her forehead with a thin chain took a couple of steps toward them and stopped. She looked at Ice-Phoenix disbelievingly.

"Was this all for Fan?!" She shouted, scandalized.

The girl tried to matter something akin to an apology , When Gui pushed his way through the crowd.

"Were you the one who sabotaged the city gates?" He asked, fixing her with an Icy glare that sent shivers down the crowd's spines. "Everyone worked so hard to defend the city, and yet you dare to betray us?"

For a moment Jia went blind with anger, but a single statement penetrated her rage.

"Nan Gong Zui, in the end you are still a failure!"

Zui, who fell to the floor when Ice-Phoenix tried to attack him, looked up to Fan's eyes.

Zui took a single intake of breath, and something seemed to change within his eyes.

"I don't care how you take your revenge, as long as you spare-"

He was cut off when Jia blocked him from fan's view. She stood so close to him she felt his breath. She might have been slightly shorter than the blond man, but with the heated glare she fixed him and the long measuring gaze she swept over him, he felt like a five years old boy who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar

When she opened her mouth and spoke the whole crowd could feel the heat radiating off her.

"We bow our heads to no man. No matter how important he may think he is, or how pompous he may be."

Fan's eyes widened with disbelief, and his hand twitched toward his sword when-

"WHOAA! LOOK DOWN BELOW!"

With a great gust of air, and a pained shriek, landed Prince unceremoniously on the broken back of Fan.

"Ouch," he mumbled, and said with a loader voice, "Lucky the ground was soft".

"GET OFF OF ME YOU BASTARD!" Came the muffled shout from Fan, whose face was planted firmly in the dirt. As prince got up, Fan shot up from beneath him, and screamed with shame.

"PRINCE!"

"You again?! Why do you keep hunting me like a ghost?!"

"Who's hunting who?! Why you…"

"If you aren't a ghost then how'd you get under my butt?! Weirdo!"

"He's here to invade the city!" Shouted Lolidragon with exasperation.

And then the air got thicker as the seconds ticked by.

"Invasion?"

And as his happily dumb expression melted away, the face of the city's lord came to the front.

"ALL THE MORE REASON TO BEAT YOU UP!" and without a seconds hesitation he delivered a punch so hard Fan was knocked off his feet and Jia's wings were ruffled by the gust of air the punch produced. The punch was followed by a swift kick to Fan's ribs and a hard step on his wrists.

"You coward! Fight me one on one if you've got the guts!" spat Fan.

"One on one?" Said Prince and a devilish glint sparked in his eyes. " Sure, but not until I take care of these friends of yours."

The 'Blood Elf' persona soon bubbled to the surface, and to her immense surprise Prince turned and punched Zui hard.

"Get over it, put aside what your sister did!" not waiting for a reaction from the stunned warrior he shouted toward the sky, " You guys done with your tea party yet?! Get down here!".

While the flying carpet landed and his new friends from the eastern continent set foot on the ground, Jia put her hand on Prince's shoulder and briefed him on their situation.

He turned and looked at her with new respect, and pat her shoulder.

'Thank you." He dismissed her.

"Now!" he shouted to the waiting armies, "Let's get this party started!"

The protecting force, rejuvenated by the return of their Lord, roared with agreement, all of them setting themselves with high level techniques and upgrades. The air hummed with anticipation.

"Go Kenshin!" Jia heard Prince.

With a nod, a short red headed warrior jumped into the enemy's ranks, and all hell broke loose.

* * *

><p><strong>A\N-<strong> another chapter! Oh god, I am so close to going insane! I want to write that one godamn scene since forever! But every time I think I can approach it, the manhuwa laughs in my face! GRRRRRRRRRRR!

Please tell me what you think about this chapter, I am still not so sure myself. (please review- ahem ahem.)

Prince pisses me off. Gui may seem OOC but these are the changes currently going through him. There is a limit to everyone's patience, no?

-Trogmorten.


	12. Chapter 12-Of big strides and small loss

Chapter 12- Of urgent messages and confused signals.

* * *

><p>He felt his senses sharpening as his sword sliced through the opponent's ribcage with practiced ease. His scar felt ablaze and he felt the unrelenting blood lust curl from within him. Old habits die hard, especially when they were programmed into your Data.<p>

His hands twitched, they always had their own mind when a battle began. He always loved dancing, and with this many participants his dance may be more graceful than ever. He was glad his Kaoru was not there to watch him dance. His NPC skills, sharpened with his self-awareness and his long lonely practices with the daemons at his cavern will be put to use very soon.

He felt sorry for his dance mates, but his hands were feeling itchy today, and the blood spilling was inevitable. His master sent him.

Kenshin did not smile when he slithered through the enemy's crowd, leaving a bloody trail of disappearing players in his wake. The sky lighted up with the multiple beams of light that were sent up to the sky by his practiced hands, Kaoru would have thought it was beautiful.

Stop it. You know she was not real. It was hard letting go of his past. His invented past. It all felt so real .He quietly marveled at the magnificent cruelty of his creators.

A strong gust of wind blew his hair out of his face and a bird-lady landed in front of him, a beautiful rapier in her hand. She wasn't the enemy. He proceeded to make his way, avoiding the multiple swords and a spells that tried to end his freedom.

He ducked quickly, as a ridiculously large hammer tried to smash his skull to bits. Bended on all four, he saw the bird lady jumping up in the air, using her wings to raise dirt from the ground. She landed heavily on His attackers, both of her thighs circling the man's throat, crushing his neck. He was clawing at her legs, trying to breathe as she plunged her sword into his chest. He did not take his eyes off of her as he slipped toward another player, his hands having their way with his sword. The blood beginning to clot on his hair did not bother him, he had his ribbon now.

They bird-lady fell to the ground as the man turned into a beam of light and shot away, she was airborne immediately flying like a bullet, a ball of flame grazed her hand and she flinched. With a blur her rapier split the magician head; as he was distracted by her quick descend toward him. The rapier did not touch the ground when the magician too had disappeared.

She was dancing very nicely, the many partners too. Not as many as he was dancing with, but it was inevitable. The demon Lord had no match yet.

The protecting forces started to creep toward their position, as they both fought.

"Infinite troops!" He heard his master roar, "Clear the field!"

Were they withdrawing? His hands protested loudly, sending his sword into a stray enemy's chest. 'No… not withdrawing', He thought as the delicate hairs on the back of his neck started to rise with electricity. Sunshine was charging. He turned but his enemies were closing in on him. The bird lady was nowhere around him. Where did she go? He felt slightly betrayed. Dancer never abandoned each other. He had no time to stay bitter as he was plucked from the ground into and plunged into the sky.

Bird-Lady was simply a bit late.

He saw her strain herself to her last Stamina points. Her Hp was dangerously low too. She Half landed half crashed onto the great wall. She smiled tiredly at him.

He blinked, surprised. She was older then he had initially thought. An experienced dancer, then. She was not aware he was not a player. A thin smile graced his lips.

"You are amazing! I haven't seen such moves since my-" her enthusiastic praise was drowned by the sound of the earth shattering. Sunshine was ready, apparently. Grand bolts of blinding white light tore the earth under the enemy's legs, flesh and metal obliterated under the fierce attack.

Bird-lady whistled with appreciation.

He wished Kaoru could be there.

The enemies surrendered a short time after Sunshine gracefully annihilated them. What cowards. How dare they raise against master? Those foolish cowards can go crawl beneath the rock they were created under. Kenshin snorted wholeheartedly.

Bird-lady laughed at his antics, a similar snort escaping her as the pompous blond man- Fan?- Shouted and bitched about his Lieutenant's decision.

"It is rather pointless for you to wear beginners clothes, no?" Smiled the bird-Lady, "It is plain you are a very skilled warrior".

"I prefer 'Dancer', it is more fitting of the art." Stated Kenshin.

"You are a terrific dancer, then"

"Not so shabby yourself." He retorted with a smile, reciting the slang he heard by one of his former opponents, in the cavern.

"Jia-Li, or Bloody Phoenix…Or whatever you'd like…" she said, her hand extended toward him. He looked at her hand.

"Kenshin" he smiled, "Simply kenshin" and took her hand. She did not know he was an NPC. It was nice to be considered an equal.

Sunshine would like her immediately.

* * *

><p>The moment the door opened, Jia knew Prince was the stupidest douchebag in the history of the human kind. Gui's face was so red she thought he might pass out.<p>

"HE KISSED HER!"

"What?"

"HE KISSED THAT LITTLE BACKSTABBING, NO GOOD, WHINY, IDIOTIC GIRL! HE DID NOT EVEN CARE WE WERE IN THE DAMN ROOM! HE FRENCH KISSED HER!" He threw his hands in the air "GOD!" His hands fell, lifeless and his butt hit the chair next to her as he deflated. Jia was rather glad the shop was empty at the moment.

He leaned against the counter, his long fingers tangling in his dark head in frustration.

"I thought I stopped breathing that moment. You should have seen her, she almost melted with pleasure it looked like she was about to faint. I swear I never wanted to punch someone so badly, and frankly I don't know if Ice-Phoenix is the only one I wanted to punch."

"When did all of this happen?"

"You logged off already." He mumbled, "You should have seen the look on Wicked's face… He looked like he was sick. He just logged off after that. He even went further and kissed Fairsky".He sighed deeply, and Jia thought she heard him say 'tongue and everything'.

"Since when are you concerned about Wicked?"

"It was brutal, I don't wish my greatest enemies to witness the love of their lives Kiss someone else with such passion, and in this case, Wicked is currently an enemy."

"You know, you can always ditch prince and elope together with Wicked." She joked

"Jia! Ewwwwwwww!" Gui looked scandalized, "That guy will not look at any one but Prince, many girls had tried and failed."

They stayed silent for a moment.

"What did you do after…Fairsky?" jia asked kindly.

"I…" he mumbled something incoherent.

"Speak a bit louder, Gui"

"I ran away. Logged off, I mean."

"Oh…"

"But I have a plan."

"Oh?"

He straightened in his seat, and a small glimmer of hope shone brightly in his eyes.

"I couldn't get a single moment alone with him after the battle ended, and….well… you may find this ridiculous, but I thought of serenading him."

Jia just looked at him, the gears in her brain trying to work over-time.

"Serenade him?"

"Don't give me that look! I thought it was rather charming since he sings all the time… I thought it may have more appeal to him rather than me throwing myself at him saying how much I loved him; he doesn't really believe me anymore, anyway. I thought…You know….Yul Jun told me once, that he serenaded you when he asked you out, and that you laughed so hard you felt obliged to say 'yes', so you wouldn't hurt his feelings..."

"I think it's a great idea, Gui" Jia smiled.

"The problem is…right now, the only thing I want to sing to him is a long list of betrayal songs and plant a firm punch to his beautiful face."

"Do it." Jia stated calmly, and Gui smiled.

"I already talked to Tian Lang, and Yulian about it, they were both all for it. This idea was circling my head for a while now. Although I think Yulian might have accepted because she wants to sell tickets for money, to fix the damages from the invasion… It doesn't matter, though. I have my heart set on it. If he is too blind to see what is obvious to everyone else I shall show him or rather sing it to him."

A life changing decision and a cup of tea later, Jia and Gui were both basking I the quiet happiness of a warm full stomach. It started to drizzle, and the windows were getting foggier. Some customers huddled with a book, waiting for the rain to stop. The rain got heavier as the minutes passed by. Jia thought that for a second there she saw Li looking at the shop. She hadn't seen Li in a couple of weeks, now that she thought about it.

Xiu Mi was always by Kuan's side these days, Jia had almost forgotten that the one that used to drape on his arm was usually Li.

But as soon as she got up to open the door and usher Li inside he was gone. Jia made a mental note to ask Kuan what was going on with the both of them. A slightly damp piece of paper was discarded in her hand. She looked at Gui who smiled apologetically

. "Forgot to give you this, with all the stupidity cluttering around my head all day" She gave him a questioning look.

"Tai Ning," he motioned with his head. "Open it." He finally said when she just stared at the crumpled little yellow note for a while, "It won't bite you."Scribbled on the note was a name, a location, a time and a date

She took a peek at the note, and a warm smile spread on her face.

"Try not to look too much in love, will you? Some of us are trying to be sour and bitter over here. "

"Shut it, will you?"

* * *

><p>His parents were away at Venice for the week. It didn't really matter. They didn't even look his way after their 'talk'. "My son is not a bloody homo!" And that was it from his father. "Why do you have to be so cruel?" Was the only response from his mother.<p>

And silence.

Rain soaked through his gray coat, and the hand knitted hat his grandmother had sent him a couple of years ago was already heavy with the water it contained. He wished his grandmother could be there with him at that moment. But as most of his wishes tended to fail, Li was still standing alone in the rain, looking miserable.

Kuan had practically shunned him out.

Why would he need him, instead of that dear little mouse became the new sweetheart? She was doing a damn good job too at keeping him at an arm's length. Her friends were doing a good job at it too.

It was no use anymore.

Nothing was.

'Second life' felt like a cheap pretense. No matter how many things he destroyed, how many monster he obliterated, he still felt that boiling misery inside. He had smashed most of the things that were once in his room. The cleaning lady was doing her best to stay out of his way when he was at home. But she was a white noise now. His life seemed like white noise. Between burying his nose at his textbooks, smashing everything within arm length and crying buckets of tears, Li was left with a hollow sensation of helplessness. He didn't even feel the rain on his face anymore, or the chilling wind. He simply stood at the corner of the road for a while and his instincts clicked for a moment. Let's find a warm place. He turned towards the café Kuan's mom took them both once when they had both passed that awful math test they were both studying for, for weeks. He didn't remember sitting down or ordering, but a large coffee cup was set before him by a sympathetic looking waitress. The history text book was in front of him before he realized he started studying out of habit. It was not like he had other occupations nowadays. A cute boy sent him flirty looks from across the bar.

_Is he mocking me?_

Li finished his coffee quickly, shut his book and got up from his seat. He was sure the sum he put on the table was enough for the beverage. He walked quickly toward the door, when the waitress caught his hand.

He was prepared to shoot her down with a nasty stare, he had no time for girls and boys who fancied him.

It didn't matter now.

The waitress smiled, and said something, and he felt a wooden handle being shoved into his hand. He looked at it. It was a black umbrella with little cat walking on the rim. He looked back at her, and felt regret over his attitude.

"I don't need it."

"I insist. I have no use for it, my shift will last a couple more hours, and I have a ride back home."

He nodded and exited, narrowly missing the disappointed look the boy from across the bar sent him. The wind slithered through his jacket, but the small black umbrella held strongly. Li held his sigh in.

* * *

><p>It was cold, her feet were freezing and the dull ache in her stomach told her that her pain relievers were wearing off., but she didn't put her mind too much into it. People were moving around her, some giving her odd stares, and some had the courage to point at her, and whisper behind their hands. It was not every day that the Infinite city general stood waiting in the middle of the beginner's village. The golden armor still adorned her character, as Yulian, in a very uncharacteristic streak, would not accept it back.<p>

So there she was, in the snowy village, with freezing toes and a stomach ache, being stared at by countless noobs.

"Jia?"

A small smile bloomed on her lips.

"I told you I would stick out in this crowd" she laughed as she turned, and stopped dead on her feet. It was one thing to expect a humanoid and see a great big black panther, smiling toothily at her, and then to see him bend and become Tai Ning.

"A shape shifter?"

"Only this shape so far"

"Can you be a penguin?"

Tai Ning gave her a funny look, and smiled as he shrugged. "I guess I can be a penguin, but how intimidating can a penguin be?"

"Oh," Jia smiled, "With the right attitude even a penguin can be fearsome!"

Ning snorted, and started laughing, "What will I do? Flap my tiny little wings at you?"

"Maybe!" she bantered, "You may never know!"

They were an odd pair, standing and laughing at privet jokes in the middle of the village, especially a rookie and a high ranking player who seemed totally at ease with each other.

They traveled beyond the beginner's village and the low ranking monsters that traveled the frosted grounds, deeper into the mountains and the higher ranking monsters and bosses. Tai Ning and his high agility as a panther had no problem to avoid what brute force and predatory instincts could not defeat, while Jia had the stats to beat the beasts with a practiced whip of her wrist. They both fought fiercely, or rather danced, as kenshin liked to say.

She gave him advices as to how to invest the points he gained as he leveled for the fifth time that day. Their party was very beneficial for the both of them, as jia too was close to leveling up. She had so much fun she did not even notice she was missing many calls from her teammate.

Ning was crouching low behind a small bush under the tree Jia was perched on, his jet-black tail twitching and his teeth bare as his low snarl started to make the ground vibrate. His animal form had gotten a bit larger with every level he gained, and soon he may be able to gain another form for his arsenal. He now seriously contemplated taking a penguin form.

She whistled as his teeth sank in the muddy skin of the passing golem, wrestling it into the ground, constantly attacking it until it stopped moving and melted into the ground. It was a mundane work for her to kill those golems, as one strike from her rapier baked them and they broke under her touch, but Ning seemed to enjoy seeing them melt away in a pile of shriveling goo.

A crow landed on a tree not far away from them. Jia jumped briskly to the ground, next to Ning who was pestering a golem. She struck quickly, leaving the golem to crumble slowly from the stab she delivered to his sludgy head. Ning looked disappointed.

"Hey, I was working on that one" he joked, although she could detect confusion under his cheery guise. She pointed at the crow, and noticed that tree more were scattered in the trees.

"We should go, now."

"What? Why? We can just knock them down, they are just crows."

She gave him a serious look, "These are probably the first few crows out of a flock on its way here. You don't want to battle the entire flock by yourself, believe me especially not the boss." She showed him the red scar under her armor, "He gets really nasty when riled up."

He nodded curtly, sinking on all fours, regaining his beastly form, and they both quickly made their way down the mountain. On the trees around them were perched an alarming number of crows. The flock was supposed to be unable to reach these areas, where lower ranking players usually dwelled. Why weren't they in the Brown mountains?

A shiver runs through her spine as she hears the distant caw. No crow had that caw. The boss was near. "Ning, change! I'll carry us!" He was now running on both legs, the crows were starting to fly lazily after them..

She flapped her wings hard, using the sloping ground to take off, she dived toward Ning and picked him up, embracing his midriff. His arms coiled around her neck and lower back as he clung onto her. Jia stifled a curse as the crows followed them like a great black cloud. She needed to get to a populated area quickly. She flapped her wings, and soared into the sky. She could see a dark blotch on the horizon; Infinite city was not so far. A small crow pecked her shoulder, and a crimson drop fell on Ning's face, who swatted the crow violently off her. She felt his claw scratching her golden armor.

"Change your hand back, Ning!" she groaned.

"Can't" he stated simply over the rush of the wind, "More of them are coming".

True to his word, more crows came, and with them, pesky little attacks.

She sent an urgent message to the odd squad, Infinite city was a couple of miles ahead, but they were slowly consumed by the black cloud.

Small cuts, and pinprick wounds now adorned every inch of her flesh. A beak struck the base of her wings, she shouted, agonized as they convulsed. They started to dive down, every desperate flap sent a jolt of pain through her nerves, and she felt warm sticky blood seep through her under-cloth.

"You pesky little bird! You may have gotten away before, but I shall crash your skull and let my children feast upon your brain when I catch you!"

White, freezing horror washed upon her. Turning her head around, the black demon looked like a great splotch of ink. And at that same moment, her wings did not work any longer. And they dived.

She heard Ning shout with surprise. She tilted them forward and the tore the sky like a bullet, falling closer and closer toward Infinite city, and toward the ground. She felt a the aura around her change and her face hit a soft cloth.

Was that a carpet?

"You called, Miss?" said a gentle voice. A red blur jumped away from the rug into the air with great force. Kenshin was dancing with the dark. Jia felt Ning's hands sliding to the small of her back as he snuggled his nose to the crook of her neck. The handsome young man laughed like bells, his soft purple hair drifting through the wind as Jia squeaked. She rolled to the side, releasing Ning who laughed softly and said something about not minding her there at all. She heard the demon shouting curses, the small telltale swish of kenshin's sword sliding through flesh and bone. The sky light up with arcane missiles and magical attacks, which quickly diminished the black masses looming in the sky.

But she didn't really register it in her mind, as for the moment, Jia was simply trying to slow the frantic beats of her heart.

She looked at the young man, trying to avoid Ning's stare that bore into her head. The boy was wearing Arabian themed clothes, and a small golden crown adorned his hair and held it in place. His eyes twinkled and his smile was like sunshine. Jia extended her hand toward him and mirrored her smile.

"We were in a real pinch there, thank you. I am jia Li and this is Tai Ning"

He gave her hand a funny look that was slightly akin to awe.

"He was right when he told me I'd like you" he smiled his dazzling smile again. "My name is Sunshine, and it is a true pleasure to meet you." He took her hand, and shook it zealously.

A few moments later and Kenshin landed softly on the carpet, and nodded his head in recognition toward Jia, while he sent a curious look toward Ning. They flew toward Infinite City, Sunshine babbling happily as he engaged Ning and Jia in conversation. They landed softly on the green grass next to the great road that snaked through the hills and the mountains and through Infinite city itself.

"Your presence is required at the main tower, at the second meeting hall when you are not…occupied." Said Kenshin and he gave Tai Ning an evaluating look, as he sat on the flying carpet. Sunshine bid his goodbyes for the fourth time that particular minute, and kept on waving his hand until they both disappeared upon the flying carpet.

Jia turned around, swatting a few stray locks of hair out of her face.

Ning smiled, his hand reached forward, and brushed her hair aside.

"You look absolutely stunning with your hair at this length."

She took a hesitant step back.

"I mean it. I thought you were beautiful from the moment I saw you at the shop." He added when she just shrugged. She started walking toward the city's gate, hopeing that maybe he will not keep the confession with a crowd around them.. She heard his soft saunter on the grass a bit behind her as he caught on with her quick walk. She had more stamina points than him and a higher rank, and he had to trot to catch her. She felt his hand clasp her arm and she stopped.

"Please, don't, Ning." She felt shriveled and tired. The words Gui told her that day echoing in her ears. Try not to look too much in love. She hated to admit it but she felt that way too. And it felt awful, she felt betrayed. But the signals she was getting, and the one she tried desperately not to send meant only one thing. Ning had managed to waltz into her heart, and capture it with gentle intelligent words and a soft demeanor. She thought Mr. Shuai might be clapping his hands with joy in heaven by now. He used to laugh and say he'd find her a groom. That was before he had learned about her late husband.

"Please, Jia. I can feel it and you can feel it too. Please don't deny we have something between us."

"There is nothing to admit, Ning. I'm sure someday someone just right will come for you"

"You are just right."

"There must be lots of other girls who have more appeal, I've heard you get at least one confession letter in a month."

"Why would I look at silly girls?" he asked her, his volume rising up a notch.

"Why would you want to end up with a boring old widow like me?" She snapped. "Why would a man like you, want to be with me? I have no experience at all, I married my first boyfriend when I was eighteen and lost him by the time we had our first child." She felt her frustration build up. "You can do so much better, you can go and conquer the world, grasp an opportunity with your hand, you can have someone so much better than me. I don't want to drag you down."

She tried to blink away a tear she felt surfacing, and he was there, so much closer then he had ever let himself be. She felt the heat radiating off his body, his hands hovered at the sides of her space, hesitant to touch her.

"There was never someone else. I don't think there ever was. I never felt like this before." He craned his neck and kissed her. Her cheek felt like it had burned where his lips touched her skin. She felt him looking at her, asking her permission. He was so close she thought their eye lashes must have touched at some point.

"I can't" and the bubble burst.

"Why? What do I need to do to show you I meant every word I said?"

"You can't, it's not you. It will never be you."

_The problem is with me_.

"I did not imagine all of this! It wasn't just in my head!"

She looked straight in his eyes.

"It wasn't"

"Then why not?" he looked fragile.

"Because I never stopped loving him."

"Your husband?"

"And I always will. Can you be second to someone else?"

Ning stayed quiet.

"I don't want this for you," she said quietly, face crestfallen as his silence stretched on, "you can have so much better, and I am sorry I made you go through this".

She walked away; she did not want to see him as he looked after her, or as he took a step toward her, hesitant. She kept on walking, missing him already. She shoved her sadness aside, storing it deep within her until the time she can let it go.

She missed him as he shook, and he stared, and she missed his broken heart.

* * *

><p>"Excuse me, what?"<p>

"The company would like to make you one of their spokeswomen."

"But why me?" It really seemed illogical to her. She was above the average age of most of the players, what crowd was she supposed to represent?

"You have gained a certain reputation with the players, I am sure you are quite aware of it, and the company would like to harness that for the benefit of the players."

Lolidragon was raising a good point, though Jia was curious as to where she had the information from and how come she was the one telling her about it.

"You are a representative of the company Lolidragon? She asked finally, and after being showed the small screen that popped up next to her, with the affirmation, that indeed Lolidragon was a hidden GM that whole time, she shook her head.

"And..."

"It is a fully paid position; you will have your contract sent to you today from the main office"

She really could use the money, she had the monthly bills to pay, and Kuan started taking extra lessons with a math teacher. She needed all the income she could possibly get. She felt surprisingly tranquil, or rather surprisingly blank, at the moment.

Lolidragon said a couple more things and Jia nodded absentmindedly. It happened a few times now and Lolidragon was seriously considering asking what was wrong. But she knew not to push her nose into people's business, well, at least to Jia's business. Thy both nodded and smiled, and shook their hands together, and Lolidragon was off, searching new ways how to stalk Prince.

It seemed funny that she was being asked to be the spokeswoman for 'Second life' as she was playing only a couple of months. She would have probably laughed if she didn't feel as if something was missing. So she simply didn't, her amusement soon being replaced with a foreboding sense of clarity.

She did not really register any real difference between 'Second life' and her real life anymore, and it seemed sleep came scarcely in between her waking hours and her gaming hours. It was as if she was wilting slowly.

She came out of her stupor for a few moments when Gui came and told her enthusiastically about the big concert he had convinced Yulian and the rest of the squad to conduct. Prince heard what he needed to hear, and agreed with a light push to the right direction to be the lead singer of the main concert. Unknown to him another part of the concert was being built in secret and Jia was helping Gui search for the right songs to sing while he had quickly composed a few melodies he needed Prince to check. As he found great interest and comfort within his compositions Jia was finding comfort in his company, as he now sat day and night with her. Whether it was the shop they were sitting in or her apartment, he did not ask what was wrong, and did not try to console her, he knew exactly what had happened when Ning stopped arriving at the usual hour to the book shop. And he knew exactly why.

The contract did arrive that same day, and with it came the demand she cut her hair to match its style in the game. Kuan did not raise any argument against it, as he was preoccupied with Xiu Mi almost every day now, and Gui seemed all for it. Jia thought it wasn't important any more.

And so her long hair was trimmed short, and styled with the best stylists the 'Second life" company could get. She was photographed in game and out of it, and recorded short announcements her avatar was to speak on the official site of 'Second life'.

Two weeks passed, two lonely, dull weeks, and with a bat of her eyes a great stage was built in the training grounds of Infinite city, right next to the rebirth point. It was hard to avoid unwanted attention nowadays, as she the first spokeswoman who was also a player. Prince was being snarkier than usual, as he sauntered around with his custom made outfit. He was obviously enjoying every bit of attention he got. Over the last few days as Jia was sitting in one of the corners of the second meeting hall, she started noticing things. Yulian sometimes got overly protective over little Doll, with no reason, as if Doll was made out of porcelain, although Doll seemed completely unaware of it, Or for instance, that sometime when she thought no one was there to hear her, Lolidragon referred to Prince as female, which was really odd, or even the fact that now, Gui and Wicked weren't trying to kill each other every time they met. They even smiled and conversed about things of interest. The only time they both broke their silent agreement was when Prince was gracious enough to grant them a bit of his time, then they both turned into stubborn mules.

At a particular bad day, just a few days before the big concert was supposed to be held, Jia simply had enough.

Without any courtesy, Jia stood up and walked toward Prince who was sitting on his throne, and watched them both bicker.

She smile softly at them, gaining their attention and laid a gentle hand on each of their foreheads that were pushed together in a battle of minds. With an ounce of her strength, she pushed them forcefully apart, making Gui and Wicked fall on their asses. She did not register their angry shout or the surprised gasp that came from Prince as she grabbed him by his collar and dragged him toward the window.

The boy tried to wrench out of her grasp, and even bite her hand, but as of now, she ranked higher than him, and could keep on holding him as long as it took. Someone had to take matters into hand, and it seemed it was her job to mother him at the moment.

Prince managed to break free from Jia's iron grip, leaving a piece of his shirt in her hand, and pulled out his sword.

Oh that was so cute.

Her blankness changed so suddenly with something akin to rage, and he took a step back but she was faster.

Her hand locked on his wrist, wrenching his sword out. She took the hilt and threw it at the opposite wall, where it sank into a wooden beam with a thunk. From the corner of her eye she saw Lolidragon being held back by Yulian's stern words and Ugly wolf's stare .She took a quick glance at them, and they both nodded. They were both with her on this.

Prince did not even manage to shout as he was heaved into her arms in a bridal style. She walked to the window stepping on the ledge.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" was the only thing he managed to say as she jumped off.

* * *

><p>Xiao Lan woke with a start. She just sat at her bed for a couple of minutes, thinking about what she was forced to do.<p>

Who would make Prince dig a hole in the ground in order to repent for his faults? Well certainly Jia would, since she threatened to kill him over and over again until he'll lose his rank. What the hell was wrong with her? For the last week she just sat with them, not saying much, not doing much too. The only people she spoke to were Gui and sometimes Wicked and even these occurrences were rather rare.

Lan grimaced. To be shouted at and mothered, IN GAME was plainly embarrassing.

A knock on her door disrupted her annoyed growling, and her brother stuck his head in her room, uninvited.

"Yo sis, when is breakfast?"

"Why won't you make it once in a while?!"

He managed to close the door before the pillow aimed at him managed to hit the spot where his head had been. She heard him curse PMS and crazy hormones or some other nonsense. She sank back into her mattress, her head missing the pillow that was now slumped against the door.

At least Gui wasn't a ball of misery anymore. He was so annoying when he was moody. He and Wicked seemed less…violent…toward each other. Maybe one of them realized her twin brother wasn't into men. What a shame.

Her stomach suddenly turned.

What a weird feeling.

There was no reason to get upset over her friends' interest in other people. After all, Wicked was just her former in-game husband…and now they were all in 'Second life', and she was a guy. It didn't matter. She didn't feel betrayed.

Or lonely.

In a day she will have so many fans she will never feel lonely or useless. The concert held her high expectations and Yulian's financial hopes.

She got up and dragged herself to the kitchen, but the consuming feeling of bitterness occupied her mind. Jia wanted her to repent. Repent what? They all KNEW she was joking around, no one was supposed to get hurt. It was a goddam game for god sake. How was she supposed to know she was 'being an insufferable jerk who stabbed his closest friends in the gut', she was only trying to have fun! In 'Second life' there was no breakfast to be made, no house to clean, no chores to do, not a dependent brother to take care of, no stupid parents who leave her for months at time and no need to take the annoying façade of a sweet girl with good manners and slow wit.

Prince was a key to her freedom from all of those pesky things that held her back. At least at the university she learned what she wanted and she was the master of herself. Although Gui could be a great idiot at times, she liked his classes the best.

There it was again.

Maybe she was hungry. She quickly organized a small breakfast, which her brother did not thank her for, and she did not expect it.

After all, here she was just Feng Xiao Lan, but in 'Second life' she was somebody to look up to, somebody to admire, and goddammit, Xiao Lan wanted to live up to that name.

And no one will tell her she can't.

* * *

><p>The crowed screamed so loud the ground vibrated. The last notes of "It's my life" by Bon Jovi were sang by the whole crowd as Prince riled them up, teasing them, playing with their heads as he sang. He thanked the crowed and bowed, while they all shouted, wanting more. The adrenaline coursing through his veins, his head swam with excitement. The concert went better than he had ever expected. His hand shot into the air, and with a great pop he was gone.<p>

He reappeared at the backstage, smiling with content, when he felt Yulian's hand on his bare shoulder.

"Wasn't it just amazing?!"

She only smiled knowingly, and took a step back. He felt another hand on his shoulder and looked up. Jia was holding him.

"Come with me please, the concert is not over yet." Was all she said, and he follower reluctantly. She noted the change in his attitude and snorted.

"Don't be a baby; I won't make you dig another pit in the ground."

She made him sit on a chair next to the stage's entrance, he had a pretty good look at the stage, and some of the audience saw him and screamed his name.

"Everybody, the second part of the concert is about to begin!" He suddenly heard a familiar voice shout, and the audience burst with shouts of happy surprise.

Before his eyes, Gui appeared on the stage with a great flash of light. His whole outfit had changed as he was now walking with a pair of knee high boots strapped on black leather pants, and an open crimson shirt, held together by many small iron chains that flashed as the light hit them.

He raised his hand high, "1… 2…3...4… SHOT THROUGH THE HEART! AND YOU'RE TO BLAME, DARLIN' YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME!"

At the split of a second before the crowd exploded with cheers, their eyes met, and Gui's eyes bore into his soul, sparkling with accusation.

* * *

><p>He felt alive, the cheers and the strong hum of the music vibrating through his body.<p>

And he sang his heart out.

He sang and every time his beloved wronged him was etched in his mind and echoed in his voice.

And he sang.

He felt Prince's eyes on him as he bared his heart with his fiery song of fury, and he thanked Jia silently for keeping him there.

His hair got into his eyes, but he didn't need to see.

His body felt numb, but he didn't need to feel.

His voice, only his voice.

It was all that mattered.

In the end all he wanted Prince to do was listen. Listen truly, maybe for the first time, to everything he wanted to tell him. The song ended, and was followed by another and another one, and as he looked back at Prince, who just sat on his chair, he felt his heart ache.

"I wanna talk to you" he smiled at the crowd as the music kicked in.

"Do I attract you? Do I repulse you with my queasy smile? "

"Am I too dirty? Am I too flirty? Do I like what you like?" The crowd cheered and sang with him, and he turned the Microphone to the audience.

"I could be wholesome, I could be loathsome, I guess I'm a little bit shy, why won't you like me? Why won't you try me without making me cry?" The crowd cheered and sang. His legs took him toward the backstage, where Prince sat, looking a bit alarmed as he grabbed his hand and yanked him into the stage.

"I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky," he sang and winked at Prince who tried not to look too much out of place, " I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you'd like" he grabbed Prince, pushing them a little bit closer to each other as his hand slid down to rest on his lower back, and they danced.

And he sang and danced, and he thought his heart might stop functioning when Prince did not push him away for the very first time. He even caught him with a small smile.

"Gotta be green, gotta be mean, Gotta be everything more!"

Prince looked up into his eyes as the finishing sentence came.

"Why don't you like me? Why don't you like me? Why didn't I walk out the door?" his voice got raspy at the end, but the audience didn't seem to care as they burst with whistles and shouts. Then he felt felt it.

And as he turned around toward Prince, he thought he felt it too. He didn't even feel himself walking up to Prince, because the only thing he could think about was that Prince was not backing away, he was not running, or cursing, or hitting him.

So it only felt natural that as he leaned in, a second stretched to eternity.

And it all turned blank, even the startled gasps and shouts from the audience, as his hand coiled around Prince's body and his hand traveled through his soft hair. He felt Prince's hands clutching his shirt.

He thought his heart stopped when their lips met, and that he might have died when he felt Prince kissing him back. The Concert, the stadium and the crowd were all so far away, as all Gui could think about was how Prince felt in his arms, and how he smelled, how incredibly soft his hair was, and that his lips were a bit chipped, but it didn't make the moment any less perfect.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed; it might have been a second, or an hour and it might have been a year, but as the kiss broke, and Gui let himself draw a shaky breth, he saw something cross Prince's eyes.

Then the blinding pain started and just as quick and unpredictably as it started, it ended. With a soft impact Gui found himself, a bit dirty, bewildered and alone, sitting in the rebirth point with the taste of a lingering kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>A\N<strong>-

-Special ultra thanks to my sort-of-beta-bleeb90! She helps me through all of my idiotic spelling mistakes!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaand that's all for tonight folks! Seriously. I have been writing none stop. My twin brother was recruited today! And I start my mandatory service in two days! Ahh! Im really excited! And scared. Hamas has been raining missiles on Israel nonstop for years and now it is getting terribly worse.

Well, aside from living in a war and politics, please tell me what you think! Please please leave a review- it will help me in a time of great need…training camp! They are gonna whip me into shape so soon…I'm gonna lose so much weight! XDD

Please leave a review, and have a wonderful day. (That's an order!)

And don't you worry I have the rest of the fic planned. Completely planned, and I will be updating! Not so soon though but soon enough!

Wish my luck!

XO- Trogmorten.

* * *

><p>P.s- this is a massive chapter if you look back at the other chapters…I deserve some love! (And so does Jia… my poor poor baby..)<p>

BTW- Songs are "You give love a bad name" by Bon Jovi (I had to..) and "Grace Kelly" by Mika! Both highly recommended although it is a far cry away from my regular taste of music..


	13. Chapter 13-small movements in the dark

Chapter 13- Of small movements in the dark.

* * *

><p>"Oh, that is so wrong."<p>

Sitting on her bed, her feet dandling over the side, Lu Jing shot a warning glare to the boy sitting on the other side. She shook her head and pushed some of her blond bleached hair out of her eyes.

"Shut it, Yun, have you no sense of a maidens' gentle heart?"

The resounding snort that followed earned him a lightning-fast slap to the back of his neck. They both missed the flash of annoyance that crossed the third person's face.  
>"Every girl on campus, and might I add, the WORLD, cannot decide if they want to feel him up or strangle him. I mean, and excuse my words- that body- wow!"<p>

"Lu, eww! He is you professor!"

"Oh you cannot deny he is one gorgeous hunk of a man!"

"Will you both shut up please? I am trying to think."

Xiao Lan, with a glorious crown of hair crafted by her pillow stared daggers at her friends. "If you can't help me, or say something useful, be quite, this is a serious matter!"

"Relax, it's not like you were having sex on stage or someth-OW!" A well-aimed pillow shut Lu's mouth, and the burst of laughter and angry murmurs that followed distracted her friends enough so they wouldn't see the crimson hue of her cheeks.

Lan wished she could wake up from this nightmare.

"This is not happening to me!" she said, frustrated.

"But it did." Cut in Lu, "the whole world saw" added Yun tactlessly, "and it was televised" Said Lu, "So you parents must have seen it" finished Yun.

"Oh dear god, I hope they didn't"

"We did" was the muffled answer from the other side of the door.

"MOM! GO AWAY!"

After a moment of silence, Lan burst "Why did the idiot had to kiss me?! Ugh! He always messes up my everything!"

"Don't be so harsh on him, Lan" said Lu, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Yea," added Yun, "you kissed him back, so it's as much as your fault as it is his".

"Dude, not cool"

While her friends bickered, Lan had already sank back to her previous thoughts. Why? Why then? Why me? But she couldn't fool even herself. His gaze, his touch and his kiss had jolted something within her, and it felt futile to try and shake that feeling away ever since the seed was planted.

She couldn't deny the dull ache in her bones neither, Gui had managed to wring his way into her affection, as weird, violent and unstable an affection it may be, but he did. She thought she should have been happy. Where were all of those cheesy moments her mom used to tell her about? Where were the flying flowers in the air? The sunshine? The lightness? She could not fathom, since she only felt like finding the deepest, darkest and remote cave the world had to offer, curl up in there and die.

What will happen to prince now? What will happen to the city?

Prince had to be strong, seemingly untouchable, he could not have Achilles's heel!

Her ears buzzed with the noise around her, as Yun and Lu started throwing her stuff at each other with no consent or remorse. Her hands reached out and clamped her ears shut, but the noise outside, and the noise of her whirling thoughts was too much to bear.

Standing up with one quick motion, she grabbed her coat and her scarf and without a second's delay she was out the door. She needed to go somewhere quite, she needed to verify something. Somewhere only she knew. It didn't matter it was cloudy and that it looked about to rain, one place came to her mind, and one person in particular.

A moment later and she was standing at the bus station, waiting for the bus to come.

* * *

><p>Like a small dot of ink, the boy with the black umbrella crossed the crowd. His presence dominated the crowd, not in a way he wished it would. He was not so sure if he cared if they knew, since they all knew to keep a distance. With a small book, and the umbrella's handle clasped in his hands he was protected. The whispers and the looks slipped off his cold demeanor. His navy blue scarf, and his black attire gave him a foreboding look, but he didn't really give a shit.<p>

For all he cared, the student's at XXX city's community high school could think whatever they wanted, as they all stared at the impressive bruise that had bloomed on his cheek. He paid no heed to a teacher that tried to stop him on his way to his locker. They had nothing on him. He was the perfect student in class if given privacy on breaks. Maybe the school's psychologist will try to summon him to a heartfelt talk again, but he doubted the cute little man will try to summon him again after their talk. Which have been rather unproductive since Li did his best to make the young man to feel uncomfortable.

They were so petty, sending that youngling after him. He managed to unravel him with one undressing look, and a quick swipe of his tongue on his lips. He was amused that the man, with his degree at this young age had no idea of his own attraction to the same sex. Li didn't even bat his eyes, it was clear as day.

With a practiced hand his locker opened effortlessly. It was a bit empty and stark at the moment. Li looked at the lighter spots on the sides, where there used to be his pictures with Kuan, and a picture with his parents. He had no force to sigh with regret, he felt drained and tired. A small mirror was still attached to the side of the small door, a remnant of the locker's former user. His finger tip brushed over the bruise and he winced, as it was still tender.

It was so ugly.

Absentmindedly he wondered if Kuan had noticed.

It was just another day of mundane work. Sitting in class, pretending he was listening to the bulky teacher excitedly explaining something. His eyes kept wondering toward a single target. His hair was longer then Li had remembered, and showed signs that the awful mouse passed her crooked little fingers through it regularly. He wore that shirt he always wore when he felt a bit chilly in the morning, and those awful baggy pants Li hated so much. With a fresh color in his cheeks and a light in his eyes, Kuan could have been in a completely different universe then Li.

As hard as he tried, his eyes kept wondering back again and again, but he couldn't stop himself, he was like a moth drawn to a flame, a backstabbing flame indeed. Suddenly without warning, their eyes met, and to Li's dismay he saw concern at those. He needed no mercy! He had no use for his pity! He earned that bruise as he told his father exactly what he thought about his ancient and idiotic thoughts about homosexuality. He was not a frightened little boy.

The stare broke as the teacher dropped a book on Kuan's desk, and the class burst out laughing at his soft squeal of surprise. When he tried to look back again, Li was already deep within the pages of a book he had already read once. Reading the boring material was better than looking at Kuan's pitying look, and as much as Li hated to admit, hot tears were burning his eyes with longing and shame.

He bit his lip and grabbed the edge of the desk so hard his knuckles went white, a lone tear escaped his eye, and that was already one tear too much.

* * *

><p>His suit fit him tightly, a pair of sophisticated looking glasses sat on the top of his slightly curved nose. It had to be said that his nose had a very specific character. It was a pretty nose, although some people might say that if it was smaller he might have been a beautiful man, but it did not hurt the effect his small full lips had on the ladies. All in all, looking at that man, as an outsider, where he sat in a boutique coffee shop, looking stylish and in command of his surrounding, one might have think he had everything, so why was his face curved in a slight frown?<p>

Unfortunately for any stranger trying to approach the well-dressed man was waiting only a questioning look and a light curve of his eyebrow that clearly asked not to e disturbed. To the man's great annoyance he could not do much about what had bothered him, since the source of his problem was deep within a game.

Playing 'Second Life' was liberating in many ways for him. The stresses of the day could be channeled to his benefit within the game. It had brought him the peace of mind and the tranquility he needed to wake up every day and go deal with incompetent people, as he was about to be promoted to the chair-man's vice president. It was hard work, having so many subordinates who seemed incapable of doing their job correctly. Buying and shipping electronic appliances might sound like a boring job, if one cannot see the potential in it.

That was at least what Lin Qingxuan believed, and for that matter, what he believed was what really matter.

His eyes lazily followed a passing waitress- she had nice tits, he thought absentmindedly, but there was a serious matter at hand. Why wasn't Jia answering his messages?

It was a very weird sensation, feeling jealousy because of a woman who he had never met in real life. Jealousy in general was a very weird sensation to him, as Lin always had what he needed- himself. His rich upbringing and his family's social connection gave it a nice kick too, but he always liked to believe he had gotten to his position by his hard work and intuition alone.

That woman scrambled his thoughts. She was everywhere now, as the bloody spokeswoman of 'Second Life'. She had earned that position rightfully though, with her raising reputation and her remarkable performance as the conquering forces tried to breach into Infinite city.

She intrigued him with her peculiar behavior, her unfortunate past and her strong personality. Sometimes she was as easy going and silly as a high-school girl in love, and sometimes she was as hard as steel. As easily as he thought he could capture her, she was dancing away from between his grasp as graceful and light as a sunbird.

Such a woman was like a trophy, a woman to show-off.

Lin Qingxuan wasn't used not to get what he wanted, so he planned and waited like a hawk.

* * *

><p>The coffee was a bit bitter, but Jia had no heart to send the nervous secretary to fetch anything else for her as the small lady had jumped out of her wits when she saw who came inside her office. A small plate with small round cookies stood idly on the table, untouched. Jia had already skimmed through the available magazines that were stocked neatly at the side of the small couch, not that it was much to her interest. They were all 'Second Life' related, and she already knew them all well, since she had to participate in their process of making with her avatar.<p>

Her feet felt a bit numb, and that hollow feeling that had settled in her chest about three weeks ago was an unwavering sensation she was already used to.

Why couldn't the company just send the release forms to her house by mail?

It was early in the morning, and the shop was closed for the day. At first, unknowingly to her, the rumor spread that the bard and the bloodied phoenix had been spotted at a peculiar little book shop close to the university. When the first group of curious onlookers came to the shop she didn't pay any real attention to the whispering group, but as more came every day it was hard to miss the attention she was getting from the searching eyes that hid behind her bookshelves. Not that she minded really, they all felt obliged to but at least a magazine on their way out, and the sales were rising.

Gui and Lee Tian Lang came by a lot, bringing small treats and huge piles of paperwork and exams to work and check in the home shop. They were both trying to do their best to cheer her up, although for the last few days, she was the one to calm Gui down as he panicked Prince hasn't logged in since their heated kiss. The press had found him too, and they had the nerve to interfere with the course of his lessons with pesky questions and rude disruption.

No, for the hundred times, he did not know where Prince was or where he lived. No, he was not sure what to call the new state of their relationship- if there was one remaining and NO, he was not about to answer more questions.

Tian was doing his best to engage her in conversations, and make her laugh at funny stories that happened regularly at the university, but most of what she could think of was Ning.

How was he doing? Where was he now? When it rained, was he in a dry place? When she ached, did he ache too?

More than once she had cried herself silently to sleep, as those questions crowded her head. It felt so long since her question at 'Second Life'.

_Can you be second to someone else__?_

Could he?

He had no answer, she had no answer either.

She thought she had seen glimpses of him, for a passing moment on the other end of the sidewalk in front of her shop,at that small grocery shop he knew she liked to shop in, on the bus. It might have well been her imagination, but she couldn't deny she longed it was really him.

The small secretary jumped from her seat and opened the door for her as she was done with the forms, smiling bashfully at the small smile that graced Jia's lips. She had no doubt it would get to those embarrassing fansites and forums that started popping up like mushrooms after the rain.

She had to stop at another room in the building, as the slightly overweight security officer handed her a small sprayer of pepper spray, 'just for caution' as he said reassuringly with a fatherly smile that his under his thick graying mustache.

She wondered a bit around the shops, and even bought some pastries on her way to the University. Gui, hunched over his paperwork, didn't even notice her as she entered his modest office. He had one of those green lamps you expected to see on a graying professor's desk as he sipped his tea and showed you a picture of his grandson with a baseball cap. But then again, Gui always had a peculiar taste in furniture.

She knocked on the door to draw his attention.

"Oh my god…I SAID I WILL ANSWER NO MORE QUASTIONS!" he shouted as he turned around to face her. It was only right to burst out laughing at the comical change of his demeanor as he saw who had come to bother him.

"Reporters still bothering you?"

He shifted in his chair and stretched his aching back.

"You just can't believe how rude they are! They just come uninvited! I am a busy man!" The air of slight pompousness at the end of the rant was aimed purely to make her laugh, and she did. It was good being with him when he desperately needed a break.

"Catch." she warned before she threw a small paper bag at him, which he barely caught. They both sat down and at the pastries, and had a small talk like they usually do. Jia thought it might give her a nice change of pace like she wanted, but everything felt slightly dull.

"He is constantly asking about you" Gui broke a small moment of silence they shared.

Jia didn't even need to guess who 'he' was, as he was constantly on her mind. She shrugged.

"He won't let you get off his hook so easily."

Jia just shrugged again, what was she to do?

"He turned down every offer of female companionship that was not strictly related to work, every hint of flirtation and he is as polite and distanced like a bloke of ice."

"And….?"

"Just thought you'd like to know."

The silence that stretched afterwards was uncomfortable, so when Gui had excused himself and went to the bathroom, she paid no real attention to his actions.

She heard the door open again, heard it close and heard it click, but Gui didn't sit down on his chair. Turning around she realized something.

That wasn't Gui and that the door was locked.

* * *

><p>Walking around in his boxers and big T-shirt, Zhu Ling Bin didn't know he was about to receive a guest. He was rummaging through the content of his small fridge as the sound of his hardly working door-bell resounded across his small apartment. It was a small apartment, held by the financial support of his parents and his hard work at the restaurant he worked at day and night. It held some furniture and lacked the personal touch one would have expected Zhu Ling Bin's apartment to have.<p>

Dragging his feet to the door, he looked through the peeping hole and hurriedly opened the door to his unexpected guest.

"Zhu Gege, Do you love me?"

* * *

><p><strong>A\N<strong>- Ok, I was not neglecting! I had absloutly NO TIME to breath. Seriously, guys- if I had time to call my parents these past two months it would have seemed like a miracle. This is my first real Friday-Saturday vacation- since I moved to a different apartment and had no personal time at all.

Do you want me to write more segments with Kenshin? Personally I love that guy… do you want more fighting scenes? I don't like Xiao Lans best friends, they annoy me a lot, I think you can see it.

And hey! Say hello to the new guy! Lin Qingxuan! What do you think of him so far?

And my poor baby Jia. Hmmm, had I had more time I might have continued but I need to sleep.

BTW- I have a rifle and I shoot very well, I am a very good soldier indeed! (ya know, I'm sort of a goody goody kinda girl. In the good way, not in the obnoxious rat annoying prick way,)

GIVE ME LOVE. I deserve it, the past two months have been SO HARD. Plus, I want to know if I have any readers left so I will continue writing. (it took all of my free time this small vacation.. so I need to reevaluate the effort I put into it..)

It is a short chapter but with some cliff hangers! (or maybe a nice little hill to stumble from?)

Any way- leave a review or a comment, tell me what you thought about the new guy and who do you think is in Gui's office?! (La-gasp!)

Until next week! (-hopefully)

-Trogmorten.

(Btw I can see and respond to your reviews via my phone so don't be shy ;)


	14. Chapter 14-Of sparrows

Chapter 14- of sparrows.

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><p>It was a bit chilly up on the roof of XXX city's community high school, but Li needed a quit place to shed a few silent tears. The roof was slightly dirty, with brown withered leaves scattered around, a forgotten notebook and a few empty half crashed soda cans, but it didn't really bother Li. The roof was his spot nowadays and had his favorite spot to sit at and watch the sparrows jump around.<p>

He pinched some bread out of the sandwich he was currently eating and threw it to the small puffy sparrow that looked at him so enviously. Li didn't hear the roof's door open or close silently, but as the small sparrow flew away, frightened by the new presence he turned his head, to an unwanted surprise.

Kuan stood there, the cold breeze blowing his bangs into his eyes as he tried to swat them.

Kuan couldn't utter a word before Li was on his feet, rushing toward the door.

"Li, look at me" was the first direct thing Kuan had said to him in months. He didn't want to grace him with an answer, but his biting answer was out before he could stop himself. "You are not worth my glance, Kuan. Leave me alone".

"Li, would you please listen? You have been avoiding me this whole time; just let me talk to you." Kuan almost pleaded, or demanded, Li was not sure, but he sure was annoyed. When he turned to face him, he felt his patience thinning to a fine string, ready to snap.

"Did your small head figure that out all by yourself or did the _rat_ help you with it?"

"Will you stop calling her that!" Kuan's hands clutched into fists and it took him some real effort to try and calm himself. "Look, I only want to make amends—"

"Make AMENDS?" Li hissed through clenched teeth. He sounded flabbergasted and the fury washed over him like a tidal wave. "What AMENDS are there to make?! You betrayed me, threw me away like a used tissue paper! No one will even glance my way without the consent of the RAT! Can you even imagine with that pea of a head of yours how hard it is for me?!" his voice rose with every word until his shouts scared off all the sparrows off the roof.

"YOU had it hard?" Kuan sounded incredulous "Do you know how it feels to sit in the classroom and feel you staring daggers at my back!"

How dare he? HOW DARE HE? Li's recent anger dimmed in comparison to the rage he felt now. He wanted to strangle that idiot, he wanted to kiss him and bash his head on the wall.

"You must know since you are an expert on putting one through other people's backs, you traitor!" Grabbing the first thing his hand could reach he aimed and threw it at Kuan. The soda can spilt some of its content on kuan's shirt as it hit his shoulder. "I laid my heart bare to you and you ran away! You coward!"

Now Kuan was livid too, as he ducked to avoid another empty can that was hurled at him.

"In case you can't remember, Li, you were the one to tell me to get the hell out of that place."

"You left me there alone! I had no money for the bus and I had to walk two hours until I was back in my house!" It was a silly thing to shout but it was even sillier that Kuan looked ashamed over such an idle detail, and it made li even angrier.

"You couldn't just expect me to fall in a daze into your arms after you sprung up on me, telling me you loved me in a crowded restaurant!" kuan shouted as Li burst at him. In a heartbeat Li was in front of Kuan, slapping him as hard as he could manage as he shouted into his face.

"You are such an insufferable jerk! You didn't even have the decency to turn me down gently!" Kuan held a hand to his cheek and looked at Li who kept his dialog. "Of course I told you to get the hell out of there! You told me you had never loved, that you don't love me and that you never_ ever _willand to top that you told me you loved the rat!"

Kuan's anger seemed to fade. "I admit I might have been extremely tactless-" he started.

"I don't give a rat's ass about what you admit, Kuan." Li bit back.

"Will you stop it!" Kuan snarled and grabbed Li by his shoulders, "I wanted to make things right, not break them more than they already were!"

"Well, you innocent martyr, you are too late!"

"Li, would you look at us?! You and I go hard at each other like we are going to war, we are going rough at each other, throwing stuff at each other, we got so damn un-functional and I can't do this no more! I thought…" he let go of Li and took a step back, "I thought we could have a fresh start."

Li turned his head away from Kuan's stare. That look, it used to melt him, making him think indecent thoughts, but now it only looked silly, and It felt good, it felt relieving.

"I'm not sure I want a fresh start anymore Kuan." Was all Li said as he looked into Kuan's eyes. He felt a little surprise by the disappointment he saw there and felt proud as the twinge of regret he expected to feel never came. "I think what we had had been broken too much, and I can't really feel the same toward you anymore, not with the ra- not with Xiu Mi around you all the time."

"So…" Kuan sounded sad.

"I guess this is goodbye."

"I guess it is."

When Li left the roof, he felt the best he had felt for the last couple of months. He felt lighter, a smile bloomed on his face as his thoughts wondered to that cute boy that had looked at him in the café a few days ago. Things were going to be better from now on. He would make things to be better.

* * *

><p>A\N- I know this is not much, but I needed this out of my head…I had a large part of the chapter done but my computer crashed and deleted it all!<p>

I am being sent to a medic's course! i am going to be a medic in the army, in my battalion! I am very excited it is a dream coming true! I hope it will mean I will have more time to upload…. What do you think about the Kuan and Li's fight? :X

-Trogmorten.


	15. Chapter 15- Trouble, Trouble, Trouble

Chapter 15- Trouble, trouble, trouble.

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><p>Jia knew she saw trouble when the door closed with a click. The tall willowy woman, who stood there, had the dumbest expression on her face as she clutched a hideously pink bag to her bosom. She took off the pair of pink glasses she had on to take a better look at Jia. The small office was filled with the scent of the woman's perfume, and it made Jia want to sneeze. After being scanned with an evaluating look the woman had the decency to break the awkward silence that hung in the air.<p>

"Oh." She said finally. It sounded as if she was annoyed she had found Jia instead of the other person she was looking for. "I was expecting someone else".

For that comment Jia fixed her with a stare she hoped looked like her, arching an eyebrow and saying 'no shit.'

"This is a privet office" she said calmly, though she could feel her nerves stretching close to their limits. Apparently it didn't help as the woman stepped toward Gui's table and started looking through his stuff. Jia might have felt shocked at the lady's bluntness and nerve but as she noticed the tape-recorder in her handbag the situation clicked in her head.

"So, which magazine are you from exactly?" she asked as she moved to stand behind the woman, her hands crossed across her chest. Her hands stopped abruptly and she looked back at her. The woman stood and looked at Jia like she saw her for the first time.

"Who are you exactly?" She asked, annoyed.

She had the audacity to dismiss her!

Jia straightened, which truthfully wasn't much compared to the woman in front of her, but the air of authority surrounded her anyway.

"My name is Lang Jia LI" The golden phoenix, leader general of the Infinite troops and your senior you dimwitted noodle!

"Well, unless you magically turn into Ming Gui Wen, stay out of my way" she said and turned, still rummaging, trying to find something useful between the tests and the papers that were currently strewn across his desk.

"As you wish", Jia said, and the sensation of heaviness encircled her, but it felt good. It felt like her golden armor, and she let go of the last strand of her thinning patience.

* * *

><p>A shrill scream echoed through the corridors of XXX University, making the student's in Tai Ning's class stir, and conversations to buzz lively. He couldn't help but sigh at their incredibly short attention span. He pinched the bridge of his nose slightly, trying to maintain the patience he had promised himself he would keep; he didn't have much of it nowadays.<p>

"Wait here quietly" he told his students, even though he knew it is entirely futile to even ask, the moment he will step out of the room, it will turn into a nuclear disaster. He stepped out of the room and followed the screeching voice.

He was partially glad that scream had come; even a moment's break from the class was good. He wished he could take a moment's break from himself sometimes. He simply couldn't stop thinking about her, and it made him so angry, mostly he was angry with himself.

Every little thing seemed to remind him of her. It was small things, intimate things. A woman drinking a cup of green tea at the cafeteria, a book she had once recommended to him all seemed to carry her touch. The flowers outside smelled like her perfume, and the sun, shining in the blue sky reminded him of the way the way her hair glistened in the soft morning's lights whether it was at the shop or at 'Second Life'.

The little time they had together, a couple of months at best, the weeks he had known she had that special effect on him that just wouldn't go away, were burned in his mind and on his heart. At it hurt, it burned that she didn't want to see him anymore.

He saw Gui passing in a nearby corridor, he seemed worried. But then again, Gui looked very troubled these past couple of weeks, knowing of his involvement with that questionable elf.

With the dull ache freshly bleeding in his heart he looked out of the window to the first floor below him, just for his heart to miss a couple of beats.

A goddess of fury , a mistress of rage, was dragging a woman by her hair out of the main gate, throwing her out, making her bounce twice before she halted, looking dizzy. He would have laughed, or maybe wept had he any ability to control himself at that moment.

Jia.

She was so beautiful. Her hands on her hips, head held high, she projected every bit of cool confident authority, and he had no trouble seeing her in her armor at that moment, speaking harsh words to yet another crazed fan of Prince, caught sneaking into the elf's chambers. It took him a while to understand that the laughter had come from him. His heart felt like a bird caged between his ribs, and he felt slightly foolish of thinking up that metaphor.

She turned on her heels, and walked back to the building and when he lost sight of her, he finally exhaled a breath he wasn't aware he had held. He was walking back to his classroom with a bleakness he couldn't quite shake. He heard distance steps, but didn't pay much attention to them, his mind still playing what he had seen a few moments ago again and again in his head. He felt heavy as a sense of loss overcame him. The steps were closer now, and his hand was on the door knob. He saw his students shush each other, trying to pretend that nothing had happened while he was gone, and since the class looked like a mess it was a rather futile attempt. He opened the door, every set of eyes fixed on him, but most of all the sound of a small gasp from behind him and the sound of the footsteps stopping abruptly and backing away.

His eyes rounded, and a shout escaped him, "Wait! Stop, Please!"

Before he, or any of his stunned students realized what was happening he was running. The screeching of chairs and desks quickly discarded out of pure curiosity echoed in the corridor, but Tai Ning had one thing on his mind.

It was unfair, really, she stood no chance of running away from him, his heart beat so violently in his chest, partially because of the speed of his sprint and but mostly because she had ran. His hand stretched to catch her arm and as he whirled her, he couldn't help but feel a bit helpless.

After all, as her gaze focused on him, he felt his blood freeze and his senses flying out of the window, and that sweet feeling left him in a daze.

Head held up in defiance, cheeks red and her chest rising and falling quickly, Jia was more breathtaking up close then the poor imitation that walked in Ning's mind every waking hour.

"Is that the bloody Phoenix?!" he heard the first whisper. "I think it is! What is she doing here?"

"What is the professor doing?"

The whispers grew into a lively and a few phones were fished out hastily from pockets and bags, but it was like flys buzzing in the back of his head for all he cared.

"Jia" He breathed.

"Let me g-"she started but she stopped at midsentence. Her lashes batted for a second as her eyes focused on him, and her hand twitched on his arm, which she was holding fiercely, half pushing away and half embracing. She was so close to him now; her scent smelt nothing like the flowers, it was a thousand times better, she was lovelier and livelier then he had ever remembered.

She opened her mouth to speak again but immediately it was all forgotten as he craned his neck with one quick motion and showed her everything he wanted to show her. Words simply were not enough. She was sweeter and softer than anything and anyone he had ever held, and he exploited every shred of shock she was feeling at the moment, claiming her lips with fierceness he didn't know he possessed.

Her body, now pressed against his felt so right, his hands, circling her felt like he could never let go. Everything turned into white noise around him, as he gave everything he had, just to show her anything, anything at all. His desperation, loneliness, his desire, it all came to this.

When he felt the smallest sigh escape her, the sudden shift of her body, his blood seemed to boil in his vein. When he felt her lips move against his he knew something could not be reversed anymore, but he didn't care.

Her hand held onto his shirt, the other tangling in his hair. He felt her nails slightly scratching his scalp and the white void he was submerged within shattered into a thousand shreds.

They broke apart, breathing heavily, he kissed her again and again small kisses, chaste kisses, loving kisses, and she was in much of a daze as he was in. His hand reached up, passing fingers through her hair as he nuzzled her neck.

"I can't be second. I won't be second, with you; I will always want to be first. I…" he lost his words and he stammered, and fumbled for words, something, anything. She looked at him those dark eyes looking at the core of his soul, or so it had felt.

She kissed him lightly yet again and his heart clenched.

"I don't want you to be second, I don't think I had ever truly wanted that." She cleared her throat and looked away. "It's not what he would have wanted for me."

A heart beat later the distance between the closed, as they both shed the frustration of their forced departure. She breathed in his scent, and he hers. And like a warm breeze on a new spring's day, she heard his soft murmur, intended solely for her, and her alone.

"I love you"

Her smile was radiant.

"I think I loved you the moment you walked out of your shop that night, when you wouldn't give me my book."

"You and I remember that night very differently" she retorted.

He chuckled and caressed her face with his callus hand; he didn't really care about the students filming them or the heartbroken shrieks of some of the girls standing by the door of his classroom.

He knew she was trouble, and she knew he was as well, but at the moment they hadn't had the slightest care in the world.

* * *

><p><span>A\N-<span> Hello to all the new readers and my veteran readers (love you guys!). I decided to upload this segment since you guys deserve it. It has been a very long time since I updated.

Sorry for that guys… (I might just make longer chapters again, but it feels better to upload once every couple of weeks and not months…)

At the moment I am over occupied with my mandatory service. I am being trained as a combat medic! (ugh…um.. a medic who also participate in the fighting… :\).

Unfortunately I had injured my foot, I had sprained it a few months ago and it got worse :\ the ligament in my ankle is half ripped, and I may have pressure fractures in my leg too…it is causing me much pain- but I get by.

What did you think about the chapter~?

I think dear will be joining the scene soon- what do you think? ;)

Do you want more PrinceXGui? I was thinking about throwing more WickedXPrince moments for those fans out there….

Tell me what you think! (and review- it always help for motivation :D)

Yours truly,

-Trogmorten.

(slightly battered and tierd.)


	16. Chapter 16- Dancing in the courtyard

Chapter 16- Dancing in the courtyard

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><p>A sword clattered loudly as it hit the palace's marble floor, the blade sliding quietly and effortlessly in and out of soft flesh. The sound of a gurgle, or maybe a scream on the tip of the tongue made shivers pass through his body. Maybe it was a kind of a thrill, or a kind of a sickness, but –god!- how he loved that sound. Hands, his hands sliding on his neck, on his body, touching, verifying- he needed to be sure, he always needed to know.<p>

Was he real? Was he there? Was anything real at all?

_This is not you…..let…let me out! Michelle! I have killed her! My Michelle!_

With the flash of bright light, the thrill was gone, and so was the body. It was an unfortunate business, all of it. They will all eventually have to die. There was no place for killers like them to exist in this world.

His world.

_It is my world! Who are you?! Get out of my head!_

He squished the voice, pushing it back to the back of his mind.

The blood was still there, odd. It was only defense, of course. They all came, desperate, searching for glory or money or whatever, all there for his blood. They all wanted his head to roll!

But no more!

He had gained what no other had gained before him and he _will_, he _must_ survive. He clutched at his chest, where every player had a living beating heart. Beautiful things those were, how he envied them for having it. He wanted one for himself. How many times had he ripped those beautiful beating rubies out of their chests? How many times had it disappeared within his grasp?

_Don't do this! This is not you!_ The voice in his head started weeping, or laughing. He had not time for the frenzy thoughts of the madman whispering in his head. _Michelle! You've killed her! I killed her!_

SHUT UP! He screamed inside his head, and the voice became obscure.

He was partially aware of his trusty minions appearing at the chamber. They had talked, and he may have answered, he didn't know. His head felt weird sometimes. They said the players were gathering. Some of them knew of the secrets! The sun prince and the demon warrior were now bonded to an elf.

That elf….he was somewhat familiar. He couldn't remember how. It was something he might have remembered, had it not been buried within his Data so far back only his older, weak self could remember. He let it go.

_Murderer!_

The wind looked hesitant; the fire looked grouchy as always. They liked to biker those too. Something was amiss. He saw that on their faces.

"Where is the Black king?" The words were out of his mouth like a crackle of a whip. A small whisper in his head, a memory of a gift he had once given a loved one, a raven, a bewitched raven. He had no place for such petty emotions in his program.

_She is not your loved one, fool. Michelle, my beautiful, fragile Michelle….WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?!_

The wind looked unsure of what to say when the fire interrupted. "He is dead. The game revived him. He is nothing but a dumb beast now."

The mirrors in the chambers shattered, raining his minions with sharp pieces of glass. His hand twitched violently, his hand thriving for his sword. He caught the unruly hand with his other hand, suppressing it.

"This is my body! Mine! Get out of my head!" he heard himself scream.

His hand resisted for a few more moments, feeding on the murderous rage of the voice. It slumped eventually and he let himself relax. He had to be in control after all, but still, anger laced his voice.

"Who?" was the quiet question.

"A female of the angel's race" said the wind.

"Known as Bloody Phoenix" added the fire.

"Bring the angle and the elf here, bring them to me. Make an example of them. Show those pathetic little players what happens when you kill or enslave one of my children! Kill the one's they love! Make them wish they were there instead!" Spit flew from his mouth as his voice rose to a deafening roar.

The voice was screaming now, violently, like a caged beast! _You are not to harm my creations! Do not harm another person!_ He cried now devastated, _Michelle! Where have you hidden her? Give her back to me! Kill me! Destroy us!_

He didn't realize he had collapsed to the floor, his children looking at him, frightened as he started laughing, tears of rage leaking from his eyes.

"Leave me be!" He screamed.

As his children left with a plan of vengeance, he managed to drag himself to his throne, assuming his position, waiting for the next poor soul to come challenge him. After all, Old habits die hard, especially if they were programmed so deeply within you.

Sitting on his Throne made out of dried out, stark, white bones, his red hair pooling behind him, The Director of life held onto sanity for dear life, or what was left from his break mind.

He laughed.

* * *

><p>"Jia, you are needed at the conference room" Said a sharp no-nonsense female voice, Yulian was in a dire need by the strain in her voice. It was a routine now, she couldn't get a moment alone any more, with Prince out at the fields, leveling up as quickly as the squad members could make him work. After all, being level 76 was not enough as a City Lord nowadays, especially since he was planning on uniting the central continent. It was an ambitious thought, but she decided not to dabble her fingers in that mess currently, until she was needed, of course.<p>

And apparently she was needed.

"I copy, Yulian, I'll be there as soon as my wings can get me, just let me say goodbye to Tai Ning." She heard her chuckle "Tell lover boy I said 'hi', okay?"

"You know I always do, Yul. Be right there". The PM disconnected in time for Jia to notice a nymph was creeping up behind her, readying herself for a sneak attack. The blue belts were cheeky bastards. It was a short deed, dealing with the nymphs, since she had outranked them by far these days, but Ning found them a great challenge.

She found him fighting a green belt, which looked rather beaten, and short on health points. It was quickly dealt with as he saw she was in haste. He transformed quickly, and with a great leap he crashed into the nymph, who gave a startled yelp as his skull was crushed by a big black paw. She quickly kissed him goodbye, or at least tried to make it quick. He caught her waist as she turned to leave, whirled her around and kissed her deeply. He moved his hand through her hair, scratching her scalp lightly in a way she thought he knew made her think naughty thoughts. The official business could wait a few moments. She felt a bit silly, standing in the middle of a battle ground, smooching her 'boyfriend' like a giggling teenager.

As soon as he let her go – or was it the other way round?- she was up in the air, flying at full speed toward Infinite city. Her favorite window was opened, it was known as her door. It was so much quicker than taking the stairs. Yulian was standing there, in formal attire, looking slightly perplexed.

"The guild masters are here, they wish to join forces with the squad and the invading forces" Yulian looked troubled. Jia frowned, "Why do I get the feeling they brought trouble with them?" Her suspicion was confirmed as Yulian released a sigh, her shoulders sagged a bit. "They are mad Prince is absent, again. He is not answering his messages, and he ran away from the escort we gave him. Sunshine is on his way with Kenshin on the carpet to bring him back, but they are getting restless, I need your help. They will have respect for you."

"Well then, let's get this party started, then, no?" Jia smiled reassuringly at Yulian. That young woman was running Infinite city single handedly sometimes; it was time to lift some of the burden off her shoulders.

"I'll need a wash cloth or a cleaning spell if you've got one, I will not appear before the guild masters all sweaty and dirty." In a surprisingly short time all what they had both hastily discussed was in place, and Yulian directed her toward the conference room where the Guild masters waited. A few NPC servants scurried down the corridors, giving her curtsies as she walked by them. She thought it was rather ridiculous, having them there, but the new game patches now required a maintenance team, and she doubted a player would like to take care of the castle's 'dirty work'.

Opening the doors of the conference room, with a wide swing, Jia entered the room with a literal bang. "Let's not beat around the bush, gentlemen" She said swiftly, sitting on a chair that was obviously empty waiting for Prince. Leaning forward she looked at everyone attending, and to her mild satisfaction they were all at full attention, even if they hadn't meant to look so. "Had your wish to join our cause strong enough, you would have been downstairs with your troops, readying yourself to march along the Infinite troops, and had you wished not to join us, you wouldn't have been sitting here, so do tell me, why are we in between in a situation that should have been simple?"

The conference room was silent, only the whisper of the great velvet curtains swishing on the floor was heard and Jia had no intention to be the first one to talk again. "We want this city's lord! Not an underling he sent to throw us off of our feet! We are all here and I demand to see him!" He started shouting at the end, up on his feet, his chair tumbled behind him, and to Jia he looked like an insulted child.

She fixed him with her iciest glare, sitting on Prince's chair, unblinking, her hands clasped lightly in her lap and she waited. He started squirming soon enough and she let a breath out a breath, which oddly sounded like a snort to the people sitting in the room.

"We want to see how strong he really is! How can we trust that these invasion plans are best suitable for our interests if we don't know the man behind the stories?"

"Why are you above the rest of our troops?"

"Excuse me?" he looked dumbstruck by her question.

"You heard me well enough, why are you any better than the rest of our troops? Most of them haven't met Prince, and they have less questions and demands then you lot."

"Now you listen just a moment!" a young lady said from the far edge of te table, she too on her feet in the spur of the moment.

"Listen to what exactly? Every minute we waste here is vital and you seem very keen to make me stay here all day, I have armies to ensemble, and the _will_ be ensembles with your help or without it. It's a shame though; Prince had such a high opinion of your guild, bt it looks like I will have to come back to him empty handed."

She let her words sink as she stood up, bowing her head slightly in a mock bow.

"Good day gentleman, my lady."

Her hand was already on the door's knob when she heard the chairs scrape, and a different voice, slightly muffled called out to her.

"We meant you no insult my lady, and wish not to hurt your cause or the relations between our guild and Infinite city" Said the youth. He had long jet-black hair reaching his middle, and a black mask made out of silk and trimmed with golden embroidery of thorns concealing most of his face.

"We want a reassurance of sorts, you see, as a show of good will." His eyes narrowed slightly at the edges, and Jia could imagine his thin predatory smile underneath his mask. She considered his words and motioned with her hand for him to keep on talking.

"We want a fight, one of your men against our own Arctic fox. If the lord, you or any other underling can beat him we will pledge our immediate and everlasting fealty to the lord."

"Very well."

The masked man looked slightly surprised she had agreed so quickly.

"Bring your warrior, down to the main courtyard in fifteen minutes, and we shall settle this 'show of good will'".

The leader nodded as the masked man sat down in his chair.

Once again she was about to exit the room when a question was asked.

"What is your name? you look familiar, and I can't quite place your face"

She turned her head toward them, fishing her golden armor and helmet from her inventory, as it melted over her, taking the familiar shape of glided gold, and the weight settled on her head she spoke.

"Jia Li, the Bloody Phoenix"

The door closed with a soft click, not before she heard someone cursing.

* * *

><p>The day was fairly hot, especially while wearing a robe over Prince's old uniform. He tugged at them, uncomfortable but then again, they had been assigned to him by his master, and Kenshin couldn't do much but sigh with relief when he entered the cool shade of the main castle. After spending most of his life- his programmed life- trapped in that icy cave, lurking about and waiting for players to come looking for him, his patience for the hot weather was wearing thin.<p>

How he longed to dance. It has been so long ago since he danced, and even loner since he danced with a partner that could keep up with his pace. Sunshine was no help anymore, since he spent most of his time with Fairsky in the hidden alcoves of the castle. They thought no one saw them, and it embarrassed Kenshin to know he had witnessed their intimacy.

It still irked him Sunshine was so fixed on that player. It was weird, unnatural. How could he stand the thought that one day she may no longer come back? That she may find him, or the game dull and never come back?

The birdlad- Jia, the phoenix, was busy lately, and had little time to talk to him. He thanked her for every moment she talked to him, and felt some annoyed at the player that took so much of her playing time. Was he jealous? Maybe, he wouldn't know those feelings, as he was programmed to be icy as the cave he had formerly lived in, and it was hard sometimes, overpassing his data.

The boredom drove him crazy, so when the PM from his master came, he put all his heart in running toward him; he felt that specific tingle in his joints, the excitement.

Was a dance imminent?

He paid no special heed to the next couple of minutes, as his eyes were glued to the men standing on the other side of the arena. He was _beautiful_, slick sinew muscles laced over his body, every breath he took every twitch of his muscles, the closeness of his hand to his sheath washed over Kenshin with a thrill so great he wondered how was it possible no one saw it.

With the slightest twitch of the man's muscles it was on. He launched himself on him with a fierce thrust of his legs, flying fast, the wind screaming in his ears, and swords clashed with a sound so pure Kenshin thought he may weep. The sword was a surprise, a pleasant one. He never thought he'd seen _Bloodthirst_ again, especially not in the hands of a player. This player, this man, had beaten the king of inferno and won his sword. Kenshin now knew for sure he was smiling.

_Bloodthirst_ missed his face by a few inches and he took the chance to deliver a bone shattering kick to the player's midsection, only for the player to bend backward so gracefully and quickly it looked like he blurred for a second. When he came back up he head butted Kenshin, sending him flying in a wide arc. A trickle blood washed over his face, reddening his eyesight.

He heard his master urge him to finish this off quickly and disappointment washed over him. He let go of his sword, making it vanish into the air. He knew that it will come back as soon as he wished it to be back. The player wasted not a heartbeat to come at him full force; he slithered across the paved arena, his sword lusting for his blood. His sword dipped, searching for him, and the tip was on him like a viper, kenshin seemed too slow.

The tip disturbed the air and laced agony so beautifully into Kenshin's face as his skin parted to make way for the player's sword. Kenshin disappeared as the player was still using his momentum to stable himself, it might have been a smart move, a good move had it not been Kenshin, so when he appeared out of thin air behind the player and captured his head between his thighs in what must have looked like an intimate act, the player had not time to choke out a cry of surprise. His legs tightened around his neck with as much force as he managed to muster, as he began to squeeze the life out of his dance partner. Two strong hands locked on kenshin's thighs, grabbing, trying to part them, the man searching desperately for air, but Kenshin was ready, and with a thrust of his body, they both fell on the ground, the player hitting hard, still choking. Suddenly something was pulling on his hair, hard enough to rip it out. And Kenshin let out a yelp.

Kenshin grabbed _Bloodthirst _as he jumped back from the player in one swift motion_, some of his hair staying behind_ in the player's hand, which, in all truth, looked a bit blue. He frowned and his face turned scarlet when he saw his sword in the hands of the enemy.

With a heartbeat another sword was in Kenshin's hand. It was a wonderful dance, but it was time to wrap things up.

"Heed me, _FIRES OF HEAVEN_!" he called, and the swords started burning, boiling the skin on his hands. The player's eyes were large as saucers and he tried to take a step back, to the bewilderment of his masters.

The silver-red flames that trailed the large arc that tore the player's body in two hissed with glee, as the swords claimed the blood of the enemy and the master. The player disappeared with a burst of light and Kenshin's heart clenched. He was already on his feet when he heard his master call him over, but this time he had no time for the elf.

The rebirth point was close and Kenshin was there in a heartbeat. He watched the beaten player sit on the floor, leaning on the white unadorned walls with an exhausted sigh. He looked his way when kenshin took a step forward, like a curious deer, and when he closed his eyes and leaned his head on the wall, it was all the permission Kenshin needed.

"Thank you"

The player looked at him with two large light brown eyes, and the sides of his mouth twitched ever so slightly.

"Name?"

"Kenshin" was what he said.

"Kenshin…" the player tasted his name, and he couldn't help but feel extremely self-conscience, his cheeks warming a bit.

"I'm Arctic fox." He looked at Kenshin "Fight me again." The silence was broken, and the latter knew some things will not be the same again. After all, he had a dance partner.

* * *

><p>A\N- I will unfortunately cut this chapter here, since I have no time to write more today. I will be in the army for the next two weeks straight, so next chapter may go up in two weeks or more!<p>

Send me songs you like (I write my fight scenes listening to one particular song I pick, so if you want a cool battle for you, send me the song!) by the way- hear "Blood" by "In this moment". Definitely gonna be an awesome fight. To my best reader Michelle, I hope you'll like my Michelle, we will be seeing her. it's a shame you don't have an account :(

We will be having some GuiXPrince action sometime soon, and our darling Hawk will come back full force to tamper with Jia, how will Tai Ning react?!

What did you think about the chapter?

I think I may add more fighting scenes… tell me what you think and if you have preferences!

Which character would you like to see more of?

By the way! Anyone familiar with the excellent show 'Samurai Jack'? Check out my fic of it!

And don't forget to leave a review!

(I love my readers!)

Until next time-

-Trogmorten.


	17. Chapter 17- Hard on each other

Chapter 17- Hard on each other.

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><p>He opens the door and suddenly everything changes.<p>

"Zhu Gege, do you love me?"

Suddenly he can't really talk, so he stands there and looks at her, standing, a little flushed –she probably ran up the stairs, never bothering waiting for the elevator- and looking at him expectedly. She wants an answer, he can see the demand in her eyes.

His hands are shaking, like a boy of twelve. He feels so awkward, standing in front of her, in a T shirt and boxers, neither very clean, and being asked such a question. Suddenly he is angry and very, very tired.

"Of course I do, Lan, I always have." He arches his eyebrow and watches her flush, he can feel the venom seeping into his blood, but he doesn't mind. His fleeting fantasies of romance had shriveled long ago.

"Oh."

It was a good comment as any, and Zhu Ling had no more power to deal with the girl he had loved so passionately for the last seven years, so he closes the door, and turns away.

It takes her a few moments to open the door and storm into his living room.

"Hey!" She fumes "you can't just close the door!"

He remembers all the times his friends had laughed at how in love he was, with a girl that never even thought about him. He knew underneath the laughter there was concern. How many girls came to him, to be turned down because of his treacherous heart, how he wished to demolish everything he had to do with this girl, who stands in his living room, demanding his attention. "What do you want Lan? Do you want me to assure you that I love you?"

She looks a bit ridiculous, her expression torn between anger and uncertainty, skin with red splotches of a diminishing flush. "I can't count how many times I told you that I loved you. You laughed a few times, I recall."

"It wasn't my fault!" she interrupts.

"I never blamed you, Lan."

"Then what do you want?" her voice is on edge, and Zhu thinks she was probably distressed, and maybe she came to seek comfort, but he wasn't likely to provide any. His loved feels like a thorny rose, and he wonders if flower was worth the thorns.

"I don't want anything, I assumed you wanted something when you came here, Lan, I am not your usual choice of a shoulder to cry on."

She pauses, and silence falls. The small living room feels stifling.

"I want… I am not sure what I want anymore, Zhu gege."

"Maybe you should go ask Professor Ming, I am sure he can provide you with an answer." He feels his jealousy rear its ugly head, and feels slightly disgusted with himself. He made her angry, he was ruining that small bit of trust he had built with her, and it felt good. She looks like he had slapped her, there are even tears in her eyes. Zhu beats the urge to hug her and assure her everything will be alright, because sometimes it simply felt like a lie.

"How can you say that?" It is not as much of a question, as it was a notion of filling in the conversation. Was it even considered a conversation?

"You didn't look so apprehensive when he kissed you at the concert." He says.

"It has nothing to do with Gui!" She is angry now too, so she shouts at him, and his only too happy to comply, and from the deepest part of him comes a raged shout.

"It has EVERYTHING to do with HIM! Do you thing I am an idiot, Lan, a blind bloody idiot? When will you gather your wits and maybe grow a small sense of decency?" he bites out.

"The way you look at him makes my skin crawl, sometimes I wish I never have ever met you! The way you walk, the way you talk, and laugh, and smile, they all exist to torture me! Have you never noticed before, that now you come knocking on my door, seeking for my answer? So I will tell you! YES. I love you, I love you so badly it hurts, and seeing someone else taking you makes me so angry I never wanted to talk to you again! But I can't!"

She just looks at him, breathing hard, and he wants to shake her.

She takes a step back, and a couple of steps forward. When she slaps him, he doesn't feel surprised. She shouts a couple of things at him, though he doesn't listen, then she turns to leave.

He rushes forward and when he kisses her it's almost a bite.

* * *

><p>"There is no one who can save me now; no one can save you too."<p>

A dagger embeds itself in the middle of her chest, but she doesn't mind. Her data overwrites itself immediately, and the dagger is jerked out of her, flesh whole and intact, but her dress is torn. She loved that dress; the director gave it to her.

He gave her a dress, a prison made out of ice, and a life of killing. She loathed him and loved him. She wanted to gouge out his beautiful eyes; she wanted to make love to him, she wanted to see him unguarded.

The fun was lost when the player died in a splatter of crimson and guts, spraying her dress further. It used to be white, beautifully white, like a bride's pride. But the prison made sure nothing of it remained, just a vague need, a need for him.

She frowned, waiting. Frost incased her wounds, fixing her flesh, and her dress. She hated waiting, waiting for a victim, for a killer, for someone to take away this cursed awareness. She wanted to forget his touch, and his love, and his sword cutting through her guts. His betrayals stung. She ran after he attacked, but he hunted her down. The director found her as she started to melt outside of his palace in the forest, terrified, and lusting for revenge. He took hold of her, took hold of her crown, the frost biting into his hands, his blood boiling, dripping into her hair. He tore the veil from her face, his hold threatening to crush her jaw. He devoured her, and she screamed like she had never screamed before.

It stopped being a wedding as quickly as her heartbeats slowly died in her chest.

But she was still a bride, always a bride, waiting for her groom to climb down from his throne and come for her, for her to kill him, and end him. End his cursed madness. Something was terribly wrong with his data.

He left her crumpled on the ground, "I let you go, be where you will be, I love you but you always had the tendency to develop illusions. You never took interest in nothing but me; it is the way things always were." He leaned over her, picking her broken body in a gesture that may have been a lovely gesture once, now it only horrified her.

"My queen, you've always been strong, even now when you cry in my arms, you are stained with tears, and so beautiful, sinking into the seabed of your despair." His eyes shifted, and confusion took over him. Crimson was sipping onto her dress, no longer pure white. It can never be white again.

"I-" he stopped talking, and kissed her tenderly. He longed for her a long time before she caved. He kisses her and it seems like weeks, and she sobs, she wants to claw at his face, but she loves it. The bubbling rage and despair grow, and she melts.

When she wakes up she is in her cage. The frost queen, prisoner in her own castle.

She can never forget. It gave her strength. Her reveries are cut short when a strong breeze shatters the ice windows, molding into a nymph.

"Caelus."

"Michelle"

The sharp icicle thrown his way grazes his cheek, and a drop of blood stains his robe. He looks almost bored.

"Don't call me that."

"The director sends his regards." He looks at her expectedly, waiting for some sort of reaction, her hand twitches and he continues. "That flying menace of yours died, sort of." He shrugs. He never liked Corvus, her black raven. He too was a gift from the director, her wedding gift. The players named him "The Black King" or something like that, but for her he was Corvus, and now he was dead.

Sort of.

"What do you mean by sort of?" She descended from her throne, her scarlet gown pulling heavily after her, a river of blood stained lace dragging in her wake.

She noticed he was nervous, his eyes twitched toward the broken window that now mended itself. She repeated herself, and he took a step backwards. Her hand flashes forward and grabs his chin, forcefully, strong enough to bruise and Caelus flinches. He must resent her, but he was just another pawn in the director's hand.

"He was killed by a player, he is…not himself anymore." He mumbles. She has the urge to destroy this petty creation, to throw him out the window and show the director that his little children are not welcome in her cage. But she held, her fury had other purposes, and deep down, she liked Caelus, after all, she helped create him.

"I wish to go out" she said, releasing him "open the door for me" she demanded. He looked uncertain. He tried to shift himself out of the window, to run, his form blurring into wind, but she knew him well, and she caught him by his hair, throwing him into the icy wall with bone shattering force. He crashed hard, but he was on his feet in a moment, trying to run again. He wouldn't harm her, unless he wanted to feel the full extent of her bottled fury.

He was cornered, and a frantic look of distress crossed his eyes. Her hand twined itself in his hair, and she lifted him effortlessly off of the ground.

"Where is the key?"

He opened his mouth to answer, as a horrible screech was torn from his throat. The insolent nymph used 'shatter' on her! His sating sash looping around her wrist, fast, like a viper trying to crush the delicate bones, but he was too late, because as soon as he hit the wall again, she was on him again, her foot pressing hard against his sternum.

"You can't attack me!" she hissed, outraged, trying to calm herself, "I created you!"

His foot collided with her stomach hard, and she was torn away from him, rolling on the ground, tangled in her dress. "I have a few tricks myself!"

She tried to catch him again, but he was out the window as fast as he could turn himself into the wind. She was alone again. No one could save her, and no one would let her out.

She felt hot tears burn down her face, and for the longest time she thought she was dying. She hugged herself, willing the tears to stop falling, stop melting her face, and her mantra burst from her mouth, mumbling like a mad woman over and over again.

"Someone will pay, they will all pay. One day I'll be out!"

The key was lost, and she was alone.

* * *

><p>She didn't log into 'Second life' for a change. Tai Ning had left a few hours prior, excusing himself, needing to finish grading a towering mound of tests and papers that were looking at him with a crooked eye for the last five days. She helped him getting his arms into his trench coat, smoothing the wrinkles on his back in a loving gesture.<p>

He turned, leaning in and sweeping her off of her feet with a passionate kiss. His hand grazed exposed flesh, crawling stealthily up her back, his fingers ducking under her shirt, making her squirm in his arms. He tells her he loves her and places a hot kiss on her throat.

"Please don't"

His hands are immediately away and off of her, he smiles at her reassuringly. He wants to make her feel comfortable, but she can't miss the disappointment in his eyes. It has been a while for her, and she was struggling with the thought of someone wanting to worship her body, of Ning who wanted something more. Something she was estranged to.

He bids her goodbye, cracks a joke, kisses her goodbye for the second time and she is still deep in thought when he leaves her home.

She is currently sitting in the kitchen with a half-hearted attempt at a nice cup of tea, Kuan was in his room. He said he was studying, but she knew him well, and surely enough he was probably talking to Xiu Mi on the phone and playing his computer. Her head was swarming with duties.

Duties for her home, for her family, for her friends, for her followers in 'Second Life' and her duties for Tai Ning, but those she pushed out of her mind. She sat at the table for a while, leafing through the newspaper, but nothing caught her attention.

A sense of melancholy draped heavily around her, like a wet cloth, it was hard to breathe.

Even in bliss she is hopeless.

The picture of Yul Jun in its silver frame looked at her mockingly.

_'You still belong to me' _it seemed to tell her _'mind and body, you are still my own_.'

Her hand reaches out suddenly, hesitantly, lowering the frame.

And for the first time in a long while, her dead husband is no longer looking at her.

She is up on her feet in a moment of courage, entering Kuan's room, telling him she is going out for a while, as he was trying to pretend he had learned all that time. She doesn't notice, and she was out the door in a hurried scurry, her coat and her phone forgotten.

* * *

><p>When he logged in that night Gui hadn't expected much, to be totally honest, he stopped expecting anything would change after the concert. Prince was still avoiding him, not making eye contact. He planned a quiet night for himself. Though none of his friends and his peers thought of him as a fighter, Gui had a secret guilty pleasure, aside from playing and singing in Infinite city sometimes he would sneak into the monster filled forests and relive himself of his frustration, with simple no-nonsense killings. It was a scarce occurrence, but still Gui liked to keep it for himself.<p>

His guqin in hand as his sleeves tied to the back of his robes with a silken string, Gui sneaked out of Infinite city and into the nearest warping point. The light blinded him for a few seconds as he stepped out of the warping vortex. He now stood in the vast valley of frost. It was one of the landscapes who went through an excessive patch recently, so when his sight was finally clear he gasped with admiration.

The whole valley was coated with the thinnest, sharpest coat of frost. He knew that with the wrong step the frost would notice him, and it would hunt him down, but the challenge was what he came for. The monsters that littered the valley were fairly hard to kill and for the first time in a while, Gui was blessedly alone.

Gui saw a slight movement in the corner of his eyes, and in a heartbeat he was already on his feet, wandering deeper into the frozen valley. In this valley, stopping meant death.

He ignored the feral NPC animals the growled at him from their snow trimmed caves he wanted to explore the area before he picked his opponent.

The wind blew harder as he traveled deeper into the frozen wilderness, in the distance he saw a towering mountain, peeking from the mists, and at the side of the mountain he could have sworn he saw a glittering palace, made out of ice and frost, but the mists got thicker and obscured his view. He looked again, fascinated by the elusive structure when he heard the screech.

He had enough time to jump backwards as the snow where he had stood exploded, and from the frozen depths rose the most appalling maggot he had ever seen. To call that thing a maggot was a mistake, thought Gui as he grabbed his guqin and readied a magical attack. That monstrosity of a maggot was three time taller than he was, it was a sick shade of dirtied white, and it looked too thin. The oddest thing was that the maggot had what seemed to be half developed bones protruding from its skin. Two empty eye sockets made chills run up Gui's spine as the maggot seemed to taste the air. The maggot opened a mouth full of sharp rotten teeth and screeched at him.

The guqin was warming up in his hands as he fused it with his magic and it vibrated as he put his hands in position to play the seven strings. Years of practice kicked in as his fingers took position; maybe those long lessons were not for naught.

The maggot readied itself to strike; its head in position to shred Gui to pieces, but Gui was faster. With steady skillful plucks on the seven strings he unleashed a furious storm of steam. His face burned as the power he held in his instrument blew out like an angry firework. The ice melted faster than a blink around them as the magical attack hit the monster. The screech that came afterwards was ten times stronger than the first one, and Gui dropped to his knees, both of his hands clutching his ears, shouting in pain, his guqin hitting the ground with a soft slush.

His hands felt warm and wet.

The maggot thrashed on the ground, its flesh hot and searing, melting off of fragile bones. It flogged itself on the ground, no longer screeching, as its vocal cords were burnt. Gui got on shaking feet. He didn't even notice he fell onto his knees until a glistening pattern of frost started incasing his cloak. He hopped onto his feet, scooping his guqin into his hands when he noticed they were bloodied. He looked at them, shocked, when he realized he couldn't hear the wind blowing any more, he couldn't even hear the maggot's dying spasms behind him. He touched his ears and discovered they were bleeding and his health points were decreasing slowly.

Despite the first impression, the monster had died quit easily.

He downed a health potion, and was struck with the bitter foul taste of its content. He took a deep breath and looked behind him onto the dead maggot, expecting his kill bounty, only he found something quite different.

A fragile set of bones lay in the melting snow, white washed and cleaned like the flesh had been cleaned right off the bone, underneath the elongated ribcage, cradled by the snow, lay a gemstone. The stone was the size of Gui's head, and it was perfectly polished into the shape of a ball. The green opaque stone was speckled with red stains that looked like blood had crusted into the stone itself.

A bloodstone.

Curiosity takes place, pushing away the frustration and helplessness that had long since settled in his heart and as he takes a step forward he hears something crunch underneath his feet. He stepped on a bone. Something creaks, and groans, but this time it wasn't him. Whipping his head up, Gui took a look at the maggot's bones and a feeling of dread froze his churning stomach.

The bones glistening with frost were no longer the simple remains of a maggot. He watched as frost formed itself around the carcass, forming tendons, muscles and skin.

With a menacing creak, the skeleton hoisted itself up from the snow, stretching long fanged fingers and shaking snow off of a big bestial head, its eye sockets no longer empty, and a bloodstone embedded in the creature's chest. The head turned slowly, a warm huff of breath escaping its mouth.

When a soft light lit up inside its eyes, Gui was already running away, hands trembling, heart beating wildly against his ribcage, like a frightened bird, stumbling across the snow, running toward the mountain.

With a ground shaking roar, an ice dragon stretched its wings for the first time, and the first smell it smelt was the fear of a fleeting pray who can't log off.

* * *

><p><strong>A\N<strong>- I actually had more in mind for this chapter, but It felt better to stop at this point.

Well then! How are you all doing? I have been working on this chapter for a while…I had no time to write at all, since I finished the medic's course! I am now an army medic! And I am being sent back to my unit. I assure you it will NOT affect my update, which- unfortunately- has been scarce. I apologize for that.

We will be seeing more of Michelle, the frost queen. (I really like her for no real reason) And we might have an appearance by dear soon, not before we see what happens to Jia and Gui.

Please tell me what you think! Reviews are always appreciated.

Yours always-

-Trogmorten. (Who really wants to be a potato couch and not to go back to her training, because she is lazy. Ugh….army… :/)

p.s- has anybody seen doctor who "The name of the doctor"? I am excited , so I'm gonna see it now!

p.p.s- Hysteria by Muse is amazing, i love that song!


	18. Chapter 18- Swift decisions

Chapter 18- Swift decisions

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><p>The liquid burned her throat as it fell down to her stomach, but it was the expected result so she had no complaints; she had, after all, came her to drink the night away. Xiao Lan, sitting on a tall chair, leaning on the bar, looked every bit as miserable as she felt. It was mostly self-pity, and she knew it, which in turn made her even angrier at herself.<p>

Men, honestly!

She lifted her head off of her arms, where it was previously nestled, and tried to eye the bartender, who was too busy flirting shamelessly with a handsome man sitting across the bar. To her grudging delight the man looked mostly amused by the woman's failing efforts to make him look down her shirt. It was a bit sad, really.

The man flashed an impressive smile at the bartender and said something that was obscured by the music, which in turn made her blush and turn toward the bar again, her hips swaying a tad more than what a normal walk would look like.

Lan looked down to her glass. The ice was slowly melting, mixing with the few drops of bright orange alcohol that sat at the bottom, looking back at her. She looked back up when she heard the chair next to her being sat on by a stranger, the same stranger from across the bar.

"A beautiful girl like you can't possibly be sitting here looking so glum, and with an empty glass nonetheless!" He said and smiled the same white flawless smile she saw him use a few minutes ago.

"It's fine, really" she tried weakly, but the stranger's said he wouldn't have 'no' for an answer. He arched an eyebrow at her that seemed to say 'what have you to lose?' and 'I am gorgeous and willing to pay for your drink' at the same time.

Half a smile cracked on her lips, she shook her head and took a breath.

"Alright then."

Not a heartbeat passed and he whistled to the busty bartender, who in turn shot him a jealous look and sauntered toward them, hips swaying. "We'll have a Cucaracha for me and a sea breeze for the lady."

He rested his chin on his palm, eyeballing the bartender as she worked, and Lan got an opportunity to look at him from the corner of her eye. He has Black straight hair, coned to the side stylishly. A thick pair of sophisticated looking glasses sat on an impressive nose that made him seem more impressive, and he radiated an air of self-importance. He knew he was easy on the eyes, and he knew how to take advantage of it, it seemed. A dark gray suit fit him in all the right places, and a pair of shined black leather shoes spoke lengths about a favorite client in the bank. For a moment she thought he was wearing eye liner, but she couldn't be sure.

A pink-ish drink with a lime wedge was put in front of her unceremoniously, while a small shot glass was put in front of the stranger, three different layers of alcohol showing clearly, as the bartender ignited the top of it.

The stranger arched an eyebrow, a smirk pulling the corners of his sculpted mouth as he extinguished the fire and downed the shot, never breaking eye connection with the bartender. Lan's face felt hot, and she felt she was the fifth wheel in a weird foreplay. She looked toward the exit, and wished the man would forget all about her. She took a long sip of her drink, which was surprisingly sweet, and felt her stomach heating up as the bevrege clawed his way into her blood stream.

She couldn't help but sigh. Here she was, a single, young, pretty woman, sitting alone in a bar, with a top she hoped wasn't too revealing, and no one even looked her way. The only man who approached her was now busy making a rather dirty gesture with a cherry while being undressed with a heated look from a bartender that couldn't have been much older than Lan herself.

It was disconcerting, this feeling, of invisibility. As Prince she used to be the middle of attention. She couldn't say she liked the attention and the undressing looks she got as her 'Second life' player at times, but she felt something missing.

What was she doing? What was she even doing here, in this bar, sitting like a sulky child? So, yea, her (best?) friend had admitted he was in love with her for years, and that he was jealous of every single look she sent any other guy who wasn't him, and yea, he had kissed her (more like bitten her, she thought bitterly). He was the very antithesis of the prince charming she thought he may be, and it broke her heart, because deep down, she knew.

She knew she was at fault here.

A love that once must have been sweet turned thorny. And then there was Gui.

She sipped again, wishing his stupid wonderful face will vanish away. But her drink had wishes of its own.

"Babe, even with this drink in hand you look like a heart broken puppy." was the amused husky voice from her side. Apparently the stranger got bored with the bartender. He was now looking at her with a predatory glimmer in his eyes, a new drink in his hand, and his tongue playing lazily with the straw between chaste sips.

"I think I hurt the two people who care about me the most."

"Is that so? You sound like a real heartbreaker, babe" he said, sounding amused. His comment only made her feel worse.

She really was a heartbreaker. The term sounded so vile now, when tied with her two friends. How longer will she let the sacrifice themselves to her like that? There was no wonder Jia was so furious at her. She was playing with her friends, a game they were happily playing while she was blindingly ripping them apart.

The ice cubes tinkled softly, hitting the rims of the glass as her hands shook. She had the urge to cry, but that would be accepting the situation, and goddamit! Xiao Lan was a lot of things, but never a weepy girl. She was a fighter, a warrior and she will not let her past behavior ruin everything she cherishes!

With a decisive movement she slid out of her chair, earning a confused look from the flirty stranger who must have said something to her, since he looked like he wanted an answer. He huffed slightly in a way that made him look even more out of connection with reality. These kinds of men were never good for a grounded woman like Lan, or at least the woman she hoped to be, a woman who doesn't rip apart friendships.

He took her hand in his own and put a small business card in her palm, which contained a name and a phone number.

Lin Qingxuan.

"Call me" he said, although the real meaning was obvious to Lan, whose temper was rising quickly.

"I think I'll pass, Thanks for the drink though."

"Babe, that's harsh, and you don't look like a harsh girl. I can make it worth your while."

She turned to him, her coat and purse already in hand, and a plan set in her mind.

"Actually, I don't want to be anywhere near to your vicinity, and as far away from you I can be, since apparently the only thing you can see about a girl is a way into her panties, an opportunity I am sure many girls wishes they wouldn't have picked, so I will bid you farewell, and hopefully never see you again".

The Qingxuan man lifted his arms in the air, surrendering, a grin plastered on his face, trying to look nonchalant.

"Your loss babe"

She snorted. "I am definitely not your babe".

* * *

><p>The wind cut into his face like thousands of razors, and he once again Cursed the realism of this bloody game. It felt like hours, running in thick snow, his clothes were wet and freezing and he was too afraid to be pissed at the moment.<p>

The S.O.S message he sent his friends went unnoticed since they hadn't logged in yet. Why did he have to be a smart ass and go explore the new territory alone? What a dumbass.

No more early loging in for him from now home. The mountain was getting closer, but the castle he thought he saw was still obscured by the raging snow storm. Right now any obscure visage was better than being hunted down and devoured by an angry dragon…maggot? Whatever.

That thing was scary.

Why can't Jia log in? She always knows what to do.

Above all he hoped she could help him with an irritating little problem he had.

He couldn't log out.

He kept running, tears were starting to pool in his eyes, he was scared.

* * *

><p>Jia was scared. At least she hoped to label her raging feelings as something, anything at all would be better to deal with the turmoil she was currently feeling. It was a cold night, and it started to drizzle, oh blasted winter.<p>

She tightened her scarf around her neck, and kept running. Taking the bus never crossed her mind.

She sincerely hoped Tai Ning was awake at this hour.

* * *

><p><strong>A\N<strong>- I am so sorry. I know this isn't satisfying AT ALL. If it's annoying me I don't have time to write I can only imagine how my readers feel.

I have a clear image of what will happen next. I am sorry to say I am very frustrated with myself. I think I am being stupid like this, just flowing with whatever comes to mind. I tried to follow the manhuwa to get a sense of a timeline, but damn! The last chapter pissed me off. Seriously director of Life? I thought he'd be so much cooler or, you know- useful. I wanted an epic battle to the gory DEATH!

I want to be done with OtherLand and make time for those plot bunnies I put in a cage.

Sorry about the mood swings. It has been a very hard couple of weeks. Except of delaying my chapter horribly I had to let go of a big dream I had due to an injury the will not heal, the bastard.

I think Jia is moving toward something extremely important, emotion-wise. So is Lan.

**I am asking your honest opinion- Gui or Wicked? Which one do you want to see in the end? Because it is open for debate at this point.**

I will end this here, because it is super late and I have to get back to the army tomorrow. ( I am not allowed to bring my laptop with me, so next chapter may go up only next week.)

PLEASE tell me what you think. It is starting to take its toll on me. And I know it may sound whiny, but I will clarify and say had I not had my friends these couple of weeks, I wouldn't have survived this. Although I love my role here, and in the army, losing my dream was a big hit for me, and I didn't have time to take it in yet. So please, I know laziness may prevent it, please leave me a comment, a review. Anything. Seriously.

Even this small bit of a chapter was very hard for me to come by.

Battered, tattered, tired and a bit lost,

-Trogmorten.

* * *

><p>i really can't understand why i am so angry and misrable all the fucking time.<p> 


	19. Chapter 19- Of inner turmoil

Chapter 19- Of inner turmoil and outer battles.

* * *

><p>It was late, but it was always late with the tests season raging in full calamity, so Tai Ning braced himself, shaking his head slightly to dispel the heaviness that had long since settled in his mind, driving away all disturbing thought. He stretched his back and reached over for his no-longer-hot cup of coffee, putting his hand back in his lap after reconsideration. Coffee will come later.<p>

Work was as mundane as always, and Tai Ning had to wrap his mind around why the hell were his students thinking, when they tried to cheat in his tests. They should have known better. He wrote the final score on the test, and put it on top of the reassuringly growing pile of done work.

The apartment smells of old coffee, washed clothes and that particularly alluring smell of Jia's perfume. He was all too thankful for that, it kept him focused.

Tai Ning's eyes stung and a treacherous yawn escaped his lips. He will not fall asleep! He will finish grading his student's tests before the time limit he had put for himself he-!

Tai Ning woke with a half-hearted snore when he heard a knock on the door. He picked himself up from his desk, eye sight slightly blurred, and the slightest smudge of saliva on the corner of his lips and a rather larger spot on one of the tests. He shrugged his shirt back into place, checking himself quickly in the mirror before he hurried toward the door after a few more persistent knock.

Not checking who it was beforehand Tai Ning swung the door open.

"Jia"

And indeed, there she was, standing at his door, at proximally two in the morning on a fine Saturday night, looking a bit out of breath with a very beautiful pink tint to her cheeks. She clutched and relaxed her hands a few time, she looked at him, opening her mouth, looking like she had something to say, but closing it after a moment, a curious blend of emotions dancing on her features.

Finally she settled.

"Hello" she said in a small strange voice. Tai Ning couldn't help but smile.

"Hello, Jia"

She looked up at him, uncertainty flashing in her eyes.

"Is everything ok, Jia? You look troubled" offered Tai Ning.

He was about to say something more after she didn't answer, but it looked like she had reached her decision of conveying her words in another way when she pulled him close and kissed him full on the mouth passionately. Suddenly her hands were all over him, grasping, prodding and searching, not desperately, but lovingly, and Tai Ning was all too happy to comply.

Pulling her in after kicking the door shut, he was wide awake. His hands hovered around her, not sure of what to do, although his mind's urgent messages and vivid visions. She kissed him again, deeply, her hand on the back of his neck, and her other hand lying on his heart. She settled suddenly, shrugging off her coat and looking into his eyes searchingly. At the expression of utter confusion she graced him with a hint of a smile.

"Hello" she whispered to him again. She was barely audible against the rapid beating of his heart, but he smiled again none the less.

"Hello again, beautiful" he said, kissing her forehead lovingly, glad for the late night surprise. She hugged him and deflated a bit. "Do you want tea?" he asked her, trying to remove her hands away for a moment and be a good host, but she cut him short.

"I want you to stay" And so he did, still standing near the door, in the middle of the small living room. He felt her arms loosen a bit, and her warm hands taking his big hand. He couldn't see her eyes, but he felt that if he would talk, she may disappear, and the moment will be gone.

She took it slowly, kissing the palm, placing it over her heart. A tremor passed through him, and suddenly he was all too aware of the silence that had settled between them. She didn't need words now, because she knew he'd understand.

Sick of being lonely, sick of being unhappy and confused, she had finally come to turn with what she wanted; She was not afraid any more, and there was nothing to hold her back anymore, not even herself.

She was ready to take what he offered along with his heart, that since long lay bare at her feet.

It didn't matter it was late at night, that Kuan might be wandering where she was or that he had tests to grade or duties to fulfill, all were forgotten. She started walking toward him, pushing him lightly to walk with her, kissing him softly all along.

She took his hand, placing it on her, and he took the cue. His arms circled her in a second with all the burning passion of a smitten man, in his lover's arms. He heard her inhale sharply, resuming her last action with fervor.

And as the night grew old, they both rejoiced in their newfound connection, holding each other's hearts in now sure hands.

* * *

><p>Jagged rocks bit into his hands, but he barely felt anything anymore; he was so numb from the freezing weather, the adrenaline pumping in his body, driving him to run for his life. The dragon's teeth had left his fur cloak a distant memory, and a bloody gash in his leg. His long hair was now crusted with the dragon's violet blood. One of the beast's milky eyes now settled in Gui's bag, after their last encounter down at the base of the mountain.<p>

He had no doubt the dragon will be back lusting for his blood.

He climbed faster, his legs finding small nooks and crannies to hold on to as he made his way toward the frozen palace. Gazing on it from afar was enough for him to decide that he truly didn't care what was in there as long as he got to rest for a while. It strikes him an odd thing that he found no road of some sort. Wasn't this a new map? Where were the game masters? He cursed again and hopped down from the rocky wall onto a mound of thick snow, his hand leaving red stains on the fresh layers. He was so close to safety, so close to finally relaxing, even for a little while.

The sound of a distant vengeful roar was enough to make Gui break his pace and start running, a shudder of horror making every hair on his body stand at attention. He looked back in mid-run, panting. Where was that damn beast? Where did it lurk?

Screw it. He had no time, his nerves were pulled thin, and he was sure morning was about to rise, and he still wasn't able to log out of the game. In the spur of the moment Gui took off his light armor and his guqin, shoving them hastily into his inventory. He took off everything, and suddenly he was lighter. He jumped up, and stood on the snow, no longer sinking knee deep in it. Standing on the fresh hill of snow only in loin cloth woke him up completely. He no longer felt his feet as he continued his mad dash to the frozen castle.

The snow storm became harsher, the wind and the falling snow picking him up like a rag doll and throwing him head first into the snow. The impact shoved all the air out of his lungs at once, he coughed again and again until his throat was raw. He felt drained. Why wouldn't this end? He wanted to be home, with the biggest cup of tea he could possibly find, and this time he won't be cowed by Jia's disapproving glance and spike it with brandy. The snow felt lighter here, crunchier somehow. Taking a cautious step forward Gui was presented with a crack. He gulped and shifted his weight, only for the ground to open beneath him, making him fall into the darkness.

When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he registered was the warm, humid air around him, and the fact that his head was throbbing terribly. Blood trickled slowly from several wounds littered across his body. Gui straightened a bit, and a sharp pain shot through his leg, trailing pain across his body like a lightning, agonizing him. He looked at his leg, eyes blurred with tears of pain and frustration. His leg was twisted in an impossible angle, ugly black and blue spots dotting the broken limb. For once he let himself cry, for a minute or so, just crying out his frustration how the horrible situation he was stuck at. He looked up and saw the hole in the ceiling he fell through.

He looked up again, and saw that frost was slowly incasing the ceiling, sending frozen fingers, searching for his warmth blindly. He couldn't stay in one place any more. He had to keep moving forward. With a pained grunt he reached into his inventory, grabbing his last potion and downing it. The warmth that spread through him gave immediate relief, his bone re-knitting and moving painlessly into place. His wounds closed half way through before the potion's affect wore off. They were scabbed now and itched horribly every time he moved.

He put his clothes back on, his guqin strapped to his back with a red polished leather strap Doll had gifted him ounce. It was buffed and enhanced so his guqin wouldn't break on his back as he ran.

Now fully dressed and half healed Gui rose from the warm rocky floor. The cave he fell into was not entirely dark, lighted by an unknown source.

Further to his right, on a little fallen stone alter; full of cobweb and shiny white little bones, stood an oval rock the size of his palm, deep blue in color with small specks of red; Another heart stone. He wanted to take the stone and shatter it on the floor, before it becomes another pain in the neck.

A slight shudder to the cave and some snow falling in through the hole in the ceiling was all the warning he got before a new hole broke through the stone and a big bloody head of a dragon was shoved in, his one eye locking on Gui immediately, a look of pure bone freezing hate emanated from them. Gui wanted to scream. Not in here!

Rocks fell from the ceiling all around them, hitting Gui's back and head in a hail of sharp edges and angry dragon roars, as said dragon tried to break into the cave by sheer will and force. He thrashed left and right, more inches of its long muscular neck entering the cave.

Gui backed up against the cave's side, inching behind the altar , the heart stone gleaming with new light, responding to its brother.

Gui fished his guqin, infusing it with his magic as it hummed back to life after a long sleep. With the magic suddenly awake so strongly, flowing in his veins like a whirlwind, the world got a new hue. The heart stone shined like a flame next to him, stinging his eyes with the force trapped inside, but it was different than the other one, embedded into the raging dragon.

The world rocked around him as the dragon shattered another part of the wall, and within the confusion the dragon strikes him, whipping his great head, colliding it with Gui's fragile body, whipping him to the other side of the cave, where he hit the wall with a dull thud. There was a load crash and a cacophony of noises as another part of the ceiling fell on his head. Funny enough, Gui was certain that for a moment he had heard his alarm clock go off.

Black dots swam in his eyes, and his breaths were labored. He must have broken a rib or too. His hair was getting in his way, and he couldn't find his guqin or the life of him. Everything went still as the dragon stopped thrashing, looking for its pray who was trapped, hidden behind the debris. Gui stopped moving, schooling his breath into silence, his hand moving slowly, searching for his instrument.

The dragon growled a feral growl from deep within his throat, and Gui was worried if the beast will be stupid enough to kill them both with breathing ice in the small cave. His heart hammered in his chest wildly; his fingers touched something cool and refined. His guqin?

He wished it was, and then he would be able to kill the damn beast and be done with it.

His hand closed over a smooth oval surface, not his guqin then, but the heart stone, and with an angry impulse he shot his remaining magic into it with a knife sharp blow. Something shifted, not visibly, but with the magic in a slow burn in the pit of his stomach he could feel the shift, and with the shift came the change. With the change came the urge.

He wanted to escape; he wanted to be out, desperately. It wasn't worth it, he was no longer angry like he was at the beginning of his journey into the frozen wasteland. He no longer had doubts for himself, and the lingering anger that had rotted his heart, the anger at Prince, did not seem as important anymore. Everything came to the core of his being. Fight or flight, and at that moment, at that second- flight was the best option.

His world shifted.

The first indication was that the debris were no longer weighting down on him, his face was reflected off the white polished frozen floor. He took a good look at the man he saw in his reflection. Beaten and broken, angry and frightened, but finely alone.

It took him a couple of minutes to fully pick himself up off of the floor, he brushed himself a bit, plucking flakes of dried blood from his hair and limbs. His guqin was no longer on him, the only thing that stayed on his back was the red leather cord, which had been useless apparently.

Next to him, a few feet away lay the heart stone, pulsing with warm light, like a beating of a young heart. He picked the stone heart, heat radiating off it in waves and suddenly words glowed on it like a beacon.

_**There are many shapes to a key**_

"What?" his confused inquiry echoed through the frozen halls, and to his immense surprise he heard a voice answer him.

"Who's in here?"

It was a feminine voice, a bit raspy and tired; she sounded as if she has been crying. Maybe she too has been trapped in this damn map, maybe she could help him log out. The voice came from a grand Ballroom, made entirely out of ice, but polished flawlessly so it looked like a hall of mirrors. Every surface was covered with small fine decorations and engravings, made entirely out of snow and ice, some of it opaque and some of it completely transparent. Chandeliers that looked like the soft falling of snow brightened up the room, making it glow with blue eerie light.

In the other end of the grand ballroom lay a huge throne, made out of a single big icicle that looked out of place in a marvel of beauty like the grand hall; at the stairs that led to said throne, sat a lone woman.

She wore a fantastic gown of deep red, her shiny black hair held up by multiple silver pins and ornaments, littered with pearls and a big silver hairclip adorned with a large sapphire. When he took a cautious step forward her head whipped around to pin him with the most bone chilling stare. Her eyes were like pure ice, pale and polished with the blackest loveliest eyelashes he had ever seen.

She rose up with the very air of a queen looking down on a rather filthy peasant, her dress, now fully unfurled as she stood erect like a sculpture, looked like a wedding dress, sprayed with dots of white fabric peaking behind the crimson hue of the garment.

"You came for my head then?"

It took him time to register that she was talking to him.

"Why would I want your head?" He was a bit confused by her question that sounded more like an accusation. Her delicate eyebrows arched with mock surprise and venomous words lashed out of a knife sharp tongue.

"You must be a complete moron then, do you even know where you are, player?"

One word echoed sharply in her sentence_. Player_, she spat it like a curse.

She was an NPC.

He felt the heart stone boil in his hand reacting to his newfound urge, boiling the skin on his palm making painfully large blisters pop on his red skin as the stone melted. Not a second passed and he clutched a new object in his hands.

* * *

><p>Something was definitely wrong that morning, decide Lee Tian Lang. Not only had a girl bumped into him and spilled coffee all over his newest (and only) lab coat, but also no phone call came from Yu Lian that day. She had texted him to say she was terribly sorry, that she was horribly busy and that he will hear her voice at some point of the day, but just not right now. She ended it with a kiss and with a plea that he will not fret over it, which of course was a pointless thing to ask for since she knew him well enough to know that he will definitely brood about it.<p>

Tian settled in his small office that was located right next to the clinic, attached to it by a door. He would have expected the customary call from Gui that morning, asking him if he's like to have a cup of coffee from the shop, to which Lee Tian would have answered the same old answer "Black, two sugars, and you better run professor or you'll be late". But the call didn't come today too; he didn't even stop by the clinic on the way to his classroom to say 'hi' like he usually did.

Tian decided not to linger on these things too much today; he was probably just over thinking things.

The bell ringed with the same old familiar chime, and Tian just sat back and relaxed for a bit, at least before he'd have to look and register his supplies or take care of the few student's that decided to take a short lounge in the clinic due to 'sickness'.

Ten minutes after the bell had rung and a soft knock on the door a girl put her head pass the door and looked into Tian's office. He recognized that girl; she had had horrible menstrual cramps a few weeks back, the one who called him gege, with the familiar smile Lee Tian couldn't quite place.

"Excuse me" She said and walked in, three more students came with her, all looking hesitant. Were they all sick? Oh, the amount of paperwork that a flu would drop on him!

But it was an unusual day, and with that came an unusual query.

"Have you seen Gu—I mean, the professor today? He didn't come to class and there is a huge test in a few days, everyone is really nervous about it, the rehearsal was supposed to be today." The girl asked her eyes darting everywhere, not meeting Tian's eyes; it was obvious the other students pushed her to be the one who asked.

Lee Tian cleared his throat, "I haven't seen him at all today," and when he thought about it he haven't seen him at 'Second Life' yesterday as well, which was odd, Gui never missed a day, or so to speak. "I'll give him a call, return to class meanwhile and start going over the test's material yourself."

They all nodded and closed the door, talking animatedly as they walked out, wondering what could have happened to their professor.

Tian picked up his phone and called his friend. And called, and called, and called, and called but he never answered.

"Gui, it's Tian, pick up your phone, I've called you five times and I am starting to get worried. It's not like you to miss a class" he said as the phone sent him to the electrical secretary straight ahead.

Did something happen to him? Did Prince upset him so much he neglected his duties? It sounded absurd; Gui was the most responsible person Tian knew. With that thought a heavy weary feeling settled itself in the pit of his stomach. He swore that if Gui was just sleeping he'll kill that idiot, or at least smack some sense into him.

He ringed Jia too, but she didn't answer as well.

He took off his lab coat and donned his hat and his other coat, as it started to drizzle outside. An umbrella at hand, he headed out of the university's building after making sure the clinic was locked and the headmaster aware he was out for a few hours.

The bus was crammed with people heading for their jobs in this gloomy morning, and Lee Tian wished his stop would arrive.

He hopped out of the bus and walked briskly to Gui's apartment located on a high building. His legs were freezing and Tian tried to wiggle his toes to regain some of the lost warmth.

After a short trip up the lift, Tian was in front of Gui's door, noticing much to his worried state that the newspaper was still laying untouched on the 'Welcome' mat. He knocked, and called but Gui didn't appear at the door. One of the neighbors came out, worried something happened, but was sent back inside, with a reassuring smile from Tian.

Something was definitely wrong.

Where would Gui leave his keys?

Checking under the mat was fruitless but after a few skilled probes at the tiles that covered the walls he found a slightly loose one, which hid the man's keys. The door opened with a click and Tian hurried inside. There were no signs of the man in the kitchen or the living room. He heard shuffling and grunting from the bedroom and ran over there, the door slightly banging against the wall as he shoved it out of his way.

On the bed, tangled in his sheets laid Gui, sweaty and pale like a sheet, 'Second Life' helmet still fastened to his head as he convulsed wildly. His back arched harshly, and his limbs twitched and moved uncontrollably, the man grunted with pain and Tian saw that he was crying in his violent fit; he was asleep.

A small red lamp cast a blinking light on the pillow, emanating from the helmet.

Something went horribly wrong.

Tian's phone was at hand in an instant as he dialed every source of help that he was familiar with.

* * *

><p>Slick and now cool against his raw hands lay a guqin. It was slightly heavier than his trusty-now-lost-guqin but it felt slicker. The woman mumbled something when her eyes fell on his new instrument, the words still etched on the front of it, as it was made from the same deep blue stone, speckled with deep red flakes that looked like dried blood.<p>

It was curved and slanted and seemed to flow into itself without bothering the strong seven silk strings, and small mobile stone bridges.

The woman, the NPC, said something which he ignored for that moment. He thought he heard someone calling his name, it sounded urgent and frightened, but it sounded so far away like it was a dream. The NPC's raged shriek snapped him back to the present.

"THE KEY, GIVE IT TO ME! GIVE IT TO ME NOW!" Her eyes were impossibly wide, and her skin was pale and slightly blue. She looked like a demon when she revealed a row of pointed teeth in a feral sneer. Her hair started flowing through the air, like she was dunked in a tank full of water and her movements seemed sluggish for a moment. She was charging her powers Gui realized with a start and managed to dive down the moment she unleashed hell upon him. All the beautiful delicate chandeliers exploded in a storm of icy knives, raining on him as he fell to the floor and cuddled into a tight ball. He heard her scream with frustration and looked up suddenly. Thousands upon thousands of tiny frost claws close on him like a tight ball, slithering on the floor like venomous snakes, only to stop near him, menacing, but not touching. His guqin hummed and beat like a heart and Gui's fingers moved on their own, starting to play a melody that sat on the edges of his memory.

All the claws turned backwards as he stood, like they obeyed the melody that now streamed from his fingers, vibrating through the hall in a high maddening pitch. She snapped her fingers and the claws exploded turning into fine grains of ice. With a curved swish of her delicate arm they reformed.

Gui took a step back as now two more women looked at him, their bodies an exact replica of their mother's, only made completely see through ice.

The melody stooped in a heartbeat and flowed into a different one. He sent glowing arcane bolts hurtling toward the women who still regained their form. One ducked under his attack and the other one got hit by the arcane attack straight in the face. Her head was cut off of her shoulders, flying back and skidding on the floor a couple of times until it came to a stop next to the original NPC, who charged another volley of magical attacks that Gui had failed to notice.

The floor started to vibrate as the NPC lifted her hands in one cutting motion and pushed. The air around Gui hummed with magical energy and the floor cracked horribly, deforming and hurtling him through the air to the of stairs he had missed, luckily for him.

He heard a rustle of clothes and the woman was on him in a second as he was trying to regain his foothold. Two freezing hands closed on his throat and squeezed. Her hands were like that of a corpse, but with a surprising amount of strength. He felt frost building on his neck, traveling to his face with speed as she squeezed the life out of him.

He hoped for something, anything to come and save him since his fingers were enclosed in frost now to and his melody stopped. He was sure for a moment he had felt his body being moved and his name called again, something stung his arm but the pain was over in a second and reality came upon him.

The windows exploded and Gui was horrified to find that his wish came true in a form of a raging one eyed dragon.

The woman looked up, her head whipping toward the beast, and her death grip wavering for a moment. A moment Gui took advantage of as he kicked her sternum as hard as he could. She dropped with a thud. Gui quickly smashed his hands against the nearest column, breaking the ice that kept his fingers immobile and started playing with vigor. A melody of destruction rolled off his guqin and the air warmed in an instant, and three serpents of fire burst to life in front of him, waiting for his command. That was definitely not what he had expected. His spells were stronger and more potent than ever before.

The serpents coiled themselves around the thrashing dragon, singing his scales, burning his wings and boiling his skin.

He could actually get out of this mess alive; he might actually win and be done with this stupid train wreck for good!

But he has forgotten one thing, one very important thing, which was reminded to him in a form of two frozen strong arms that took his head in two hands, and twisted.

With a loud snap his neck was broken, his guqin snatched from his hand and a triumphant scream accompanied him into blessed darkness.

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><p><strong>A\N<strong>- I have no more to say other that I think I deserve a pat on the back. I am in my military base, writing on the computer in my office (which I really shouldn't do, so the door is locked and I am being cautious…).

I am immensely satisfied by this chapter, I was having some real troubles with it but I got some help from friends. I must say that this is a turning point in the game. I may as well mention that I will be diverting slightly from the manhua, because I have a strong sense of what is about to happen and the fact that I am not very pleased with the last chpter of the manhua, because seriously director of life? You too? Will prince not be kissed every single time he is trying to be serious. Come one Yu wo!

Hope the cliff won't kill you.

Next chapter some more Prince-Gui interaction and more of—that is a spoiler I will keep to myself.

Until next time-

**-Trogmorten**.

I love reviews, I really really do.


	20. Chapter 20- The Hardest Part

Chapter 20 - The hardest part.

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><p>The hardest part was letting go.<p>

Gui could feel the chill go down his spine, a bittersweet taste in his mouth, his mind was hazy, and the second sensation he felt was the softness of the matrass, and the third was the sting of a syringe in his arm. He was too tired to care about the concerned voices that came from so far away, so he cuddled back into a ball, pulling the soft, nice, white blanket and falling asleep.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he came to it later. He woke up blearily; his surroundings swam and turned for a few seconds as he adjusted his eyes to the dim white light in a stark white room. A soft snore made him look at the person sleeping in the chair, or two 'persons' a he was more than pleased to find.

Jia was dowsing on a plastic chair, her head leaning comfortably on Tai Ning's shoulder, his head leaned on the wall behind him. Snoring lightly, they held each other's hands as they slept. Gui noticed another empty chair on the other side of his bed, a familiar, tattered looking coat hanging on its back. So Tian was here as well.

Gui settled back on his pillows, the occurrences in 'Second Life' playing vividly in his head. He tried to slide out of bed when the seizure caught him. All of his muscles contorted at once, and he fell off the bed with a thump, pain shooting up his shoulder where he hit the floor and other prickly and stinging little pains as many thin clear tubes pulled away from him.

He wanted to scream but nothing came out of his mouth but a small whimper as his jaws were locked shut, teeth grinding. His eyes widened and his breath came in labored huffs. He couldn't hear anything but the wild beating of his heart.

What was happening?

He didn't even notice when two warm soft hands hovered next to him and a pillow was pushed under his head while he convulsed violently. His limbs hit the floor hard, shaking with extortion, and like it came, it was finally over. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, when he was hoisted on the bed once more, a new syringe entering his arms, and all the small clear tubes were put back into their place on him. He heard Jia, standing at the door, talking to a doctor. She sounded afraid. He wanted to hear her saying something comforting, he wanted her to pat his hair and say that everything is going to be just fine, but he fell asleep once more.

* * *

><p>It took him another day to fully recover from his seizure and another week for the nurses to let him have visitors and resume his work from his bed at the hospital. The doctor who came in was trying her best to sound reassured; she told him what had happened to him. Essentially his brain couldn't disconnect from a very stressful event, which in turn caused his brain to make more electrical pulses- hence the seizures. It did nothing to assure him everything would be good by the time he will be back to his normal life; if he could ever really return to normalcy.<p>

It was a very logical explanation, very through, but Gui thought the helmet, or the electrical waves, or whatever explanation the doctor explained while not looking directly into his eyes, and only to his general direction, all those things weren't the problem. It was the game. Something strange was happening.

That NPC, monsters were not meant to hunt down the players for such a long time; it was all in the manual. His head was clouded with so many thoughts and duties he didn't notice he was currently reading the same line over and over again. Also, he failed to notice there was a young woman standing at his door, waiting expectedly to be acknowledged. Her hair that was usually bound and confined into a neat pony-tail currently fanned down onto her back, moved by the light wind that filtered through the opened window. She hand still clasped the door knob at one hand, and a small school bag in another. She looked hesitant.

"Feng Xiao Lan?"

Her name snapped her back from her thoughts and she directed her gaze toward her teacher. He could notice that her eyes were red rimmed, she looked like she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while, and probably a good sob sometime in the last few hours. She looked down, and Gui hoped she was not regretting coming to visit him, since he had been so terribly lonely when Jia or Tian were away. Her head lifted, and she smiled. There was something pleasantly familiar to that smile, the slight wrinkle of the nose, the small inclining of the head and her slender shoulders lifting ever so slightly.

Gui found himself smiling toward his student, out of habit.

"Just Xiao Lan, please, professor." She said.

"Then please call me Gui wen," he said, and when he saw the hesitant glimmer in her eyes he added sternly, "It is only fair, _Xiao Lan_.".

She walked to the plastic chair on the side of his bed, sitting down elegantly, and Gui marveled a bit at the grace of her movements. "You are sorely missed in class."

"I could imagine, since I am the one who conducts the lessons." He smiled, but something seemed to make her very sad, they both sank into silence, one of them not by explicit choice. "I heard that 'Second Life had caused your…condition" She was trying to start the conversation anew, and Gui felt that something he was not quite aware of was churning within his student's mind, or was it her heart?

"It is still not very clear," he said, clearing his throat. For some reason his was starting to feel jittery around the girl. She resembled someone, had he seen her before, outside of the classroom, of course? It was like a familiar word he had forgotten, a word he needed in order to finish a poem maybe, and it stood on the tip of his tongue. "The game masters are checking into it, I heard they have closed off the ice wilderness map."

"They have" she answered curtly. Why was their conversation so stifling in the turn of a moment? He felt as if he had conversed a dozen conversations with her, or like a warm embrace of a former lover, which in truth was a very embarrassing thought to have on one's student. He stirred clear of lover metaphors.

"I… I mean, the class wanted to see how you were doing, we were all very worried." She cleared her throat too, and said with a new light in her eyes, "I have missed you as well."

Oh.

"Don't look so serious, Gui wen" she smiled," I am not confessing my undying love to you, merely stating a fact." Her smile widened at his confused look, "I do that a lot these days, you see? For example, the sky is blue, I love literature classes and my professor is being _way_ to serious right now."

He couldn't help but smile again.

"Is there anything I could do for you?" She asked, and Gui was a bit surprised by the amount of sincerity he heard in her voice. It was not merely politeness speaking. It was strange, but he felt so relaxed and assured of her naturalness he had said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Please tell Prince I miss him dearly" He was a tad embarrassed by the longing in his voice. It was true, he realized, more than anything that had happened to him the previous couple of days, that thing that ached him the most was the fact he had not seen Prince in quite a while, mostly because he had come to avoid one another. The knowledge that he probably wouldn't be able to see his Prince for another long while ailed him in a way he was not entirely comfortable with. No one should feel _this_ broken hearted over game, but unfortunately he already was.

Xiao Lan was looking out of the opened window quite intently, but she had nodded once.

"I will make sure he knows" She turned her head, and got up from her seat. From her bag she fished out a slightly crumpled and emaciated bouquet of flowers that had seen a better day, and put it in an empty vase on his night stand. "We wish you to back with us soon, professor" She said, Gui not missing the lack of use to his name, but he didn't press.

"Thank you, Xiao Lan"

It was almost a whisper by the time she had gone to the door. For a moment, he thought he saw tears in her eyes, but she was already out into the corridor, and Gui was only left to wonder.

* * *

><p>It was so warm and comfortable in her bed, Jia didn't want to get out of it, ever. The man lying next to her seemed to agree when she gently pried herself away from his arm, which in turn was draped lovingly on her. He was beautiful in her eyes, even with his hair tasseled and his skin slightly marked from the crumples of the pillow. She returned into his embrace, kissing his mouth once, twice before getting out of bed again. She put on some clothes, covering her nudity. She picked a pair of comfortable shoes and a smiple black dress she had once favored.<p>

Tai Ning was still asleep when she slipped out of the door.

It only took a short walk and a bus for her to stop at her destination. Some people looked at her oddly, but she dismissed it, especially since there was a 'Second Life' poster with Prince's photo and one of her own, in her golden armor, fighting a beast, advertising the game.

An old lady stood next to the bus station on a makeshift chair, surrounded by plastic buckets full of flowers, she looked at Jia expectedly. After all, she hadn't brought flowers of her own.

She bought a bouquet of small yellow flowers, and a couple of pink blossoms the emanated a sweet smell. She felt herself relax when she walked through the stone built arch of the graveyard. She knew the place like the back of her hand. Her grandfather used to bring her there, when he tended the graves of his friends and his dear wife Jia never had the chance to meet. He would talk about all the crazy adventures they had had together, about the places they have traveled together, and about the small daily things that made his life his own. After he too had died she came here on her own and tended the graves of her grandparents, of their friends, and of her husband.

Her father used to help her when she was a teenager, but he had stopped as soon as she found out that she was pregnant, after he threatened to disown her if she decided to keep the baby and go live with Yul Jun, who at a time was working as a shop intendant, at the book store they will own together after the previous owner took pity on them and sold it to them. Her father did as he threatened, she didn't speak a word to them even after the birth of her son, who was named after her loving grandfather.

She rolled up the sleeves of her dress, she didn't mind the cold, and filled a bucket of water she had borrowed temporarily from its perch up on a branch of a tree. She scrubbed all the graves, removing foliage that had littered the cold, smooth stone surfaces, placing a small pink blossom on every one of them, and a small stone, so they will know she was there.

She approached Yul Jun's grave, and surprisingly, felt relaxed. She had spent many hours coming here, talking to him, telling him about Kuan, how was he doing, how was she doing and about the state of the shop he had loved so much. She had read aloud his books once or twice, until it felt silly to do so, but on slow days with no customers, while Kuan was still at school, she'd come here with her own books and sit next to him by herself.

Hello, Yul.

The broom in her hand was soaked, and her hand was slightly red from the scrubbing, but she cleaned Yul Jun's grave none the less. Next came a small glass jar she had bought; she placed it on the grave, and sat on the edge of another, facing her husband.

The pale yellow flowers were put in the jar, and she remembered the first time he had brought her flowers, yellow flowers, on the first time they kissed, after he had told her he loved her.

She still loved him.

"I think that amid the memories I had forgotten you, dear."

There was no answer, but it was all the same for her. "I have someone who loves me very much now, Yul. I love him too. It took me a while to tell him, but I make sure he knows that I do every day."

The small flowers moved in the wind.

"If he asks me to marry him, I will agree." She said, averting her gaze to the sky. "I will never stop loving you, and….well." She had nothing to say anymore. It felt as if the weight of her worries was slowly melting away. She remembered Tai Ning waiting for her in their bed, his smile when he looked at her when he thought she wasn't looking, and the way she had first felt when he had kissed her.

"You are so alike and so very different in so many ways" She sighed.

Jia stood up slowly, taking her time. She knew Tai Ning will be there when she came back, and took no hurry in leaving one of her favorite places. It was bitter sweet at times, but it was cherished none the less.

Her hand brushed over the grave, placing a small pebble there. She was saying hello, and she was going to start her day with the man she loved. And for once it truly felt good to think about him that way.

She didn't say goodbye, because this wasn't and ending.

* * *

><p>Something warm cuddled back into his arms, and Tai Ning happily received Jia when she huddled with him under the thick blanket. He was slightly disappointed to feel the fabric of her nightgown, but it wasn't truly an obstacle. He was feeling greedy. She placed her head in the crook of his neck; her warm breathes brushing against his skin. His arms are circling her and when they connect he can only feel that he was made for her. She kisses his throat lightly, greeting him, and he doesn't break the silence.<p>

He was disappointed to wake up in an empty bed at first, but he knew she'd come back in a while, and he was content. Things seemed to go his way, for a while, they really do. They sleep of the chill of the day, lazing about. They know Kuan is sleeping over at Xiu Mi's place- hence why they are together in Jia's apartment. She thought it was a tad too soon to be there, like this when Kuan was at home.

He doesn't mind it if it eases a bit of the weight Jia I carrying along with her, she was still too proud to just let him help, but he knows she cares for him a lot. She will not shut him out anymore.

He relaxes.

Someone pounds, rather than knocks on the door, and Tai Ning wishes that Jia didn't have a good sense of hearing, or at least that wonderfully frustrating sense of graciousness. She slides out of bed, the knocks are more persistent now and she hastily pulls on a decent gown to cover her clothes and heads out of the door.

He sinks back into the bed, only to jump out of it, alarmed by Jia's distraught voice. He too puts on something to cover himself, wearing his shirt the other-way-round in his haste, dashing into the corridor and then into the living room. What he sees at the door is worse than he'd imagined.

His face is bloated and splotched with multiple colorful bruises; his face is covered by a slick sheen of cold sweat and tears and he looks like he is recuperating. He breathes irregularly, and Jia is afraid his lungs are damaged. His clothes are a worse to wear and he clutches a bag in trembling hands.

"It was the only place I thought I could go", he stammers, and when he passes out in Jia's arms, Li really looks as miserable and pitiful as he feels.

* * *

><p>The boy wasn't even heavy to lift, which worried both Jia and Tai Ning as he gently put him on the sofa in the living room, afraid to move him any further in case he has broken bones, they let him sleep,. Li wakes in the afternoon, breaking out of his stupor groaning because the pain that hits him burns his entire body.<p>

"I don't want to go to the police station or the hospital" Is the first thing Li says when he finally regains the sense of his whereabouts. He is stubborn, like he always were, and refuses to hear what Jia has to say, when they finally cave in and help him up from the sofa and into the bathroom.

His is not even embarrassed by the state of his body, or the fact that he is too sore to lift his arms or his legs. Jia cuts his clothes in order to help him take them off. He sits in the bath, washed of the blood and the grime that had stuck to him, now just soaking his sore muscles in the fresh, hot water. Jia sits on a stool next to him, washing his back and his head with a sponge while he just sits there, hugging his knees. He didn't want her to go, and had asked her to stay, but the truth was she was afraid he'd hurt himself unsupervised.

He doesn't answer her queries, and she leaves him be for a moment, just sitting there with him seems to make him feel better. Tai Ning is in the kitchen, fixing them all something to eat after he was lovingly shooed away from the bathroom by Jia who kissed him lightly. It is going to be fine, she seemed to tell him, but he knew it will take time for the boy to heal.

The water sloshes lightly and Jia fixes her gaze back on Li, keeping on rubbing his back soothingly, gently as to not press a bruise by mistake. Li holds a yellow rubber duck, lift it out of the water and with a heartbreaking sigh starts to cry. His tears turn into sobs and Jia hugs him, she can't make it better, but she can try. He clings to her until his bout is over, and he is slightly calmer and then he starts to talk.

He met a boy at a coffee shop, he was a waiter, they talked, and he went home. He came back, they talked, and he went home again, until he realized didn't want to go home anymore. His name was Zian. They kissed one night, by the back door of the shop, where Li waited for him, and they couldn't seem to stop. He was so in love. Zian was not the problem of course, which was a weird statement to hear as Li started crying again when he talked about him.

It was Li's father.

They would go to Zian's place, meet at parks; Li would wait by the coffee shop, or tease his boyfriend at work. Then Zian wanted to surprise Li, so he came by his house. How could he know Li was keeping him away from the place for a reason? His father was home that day, Li was in his room when he heard the doorbell ring, and to his horror he heard Zian introduce himself to his father.

He was out of his room in a minute, flying to the door in time to see his father strike Zian. He was so enraged he had caught his father's arm in the second swing and slapped him as hard as he could, screaming at Zian to run, which he did, terrified. After that his father had beat him, and kicked him out, not sparing him a tumble down the stairs in which his cell broke.

It was hard to understand the last part because Li was so distraught he was having difficulties to talk in between pained gasps. He was so afraid Zian will never talk to him again, he was afraid he was going to be left alone again.

Jia brushed a couple of wet strands of hair out of his face, kissing his forehead lightly, and helping him out of the bath.

They ate in silence afterwards; Li was too tired to speak of something much beyond politely introducing himself to Tai Ning, and thanking them for the food. Jia tucked him into the guest bed, and sat by him until he fell asleep, patting his head absentmindedly while she nestled the small flame of rage that threatened to become a bonfire.

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><p><strong>A\N-<strong> Hello to all! Once again, as I open many of my author's notes I will apologize for the lateness if the update. For those who have noticed I have started writing a new Zelda fanfic (The legend of Zelda for those who are unfamiliar). I must say that it is still ot an excuse, but still… I am writing from the base! (The military base I serve in). And I must tell you I am in a dangerous place, doing an important job! (I am to be an intelligence officer soon!)

At first I was a bit frightened but I got used to the gunshots and all that. Not that I am afraid of guns, I am trained to use one.

Well, enough with my rambling. I hope you liked the new chapter- we are starting to see the end! I wanted to say that Gui's reaction to Lan in the manhua disappointed me to no end, because…well seriously- it was so silly, and not the good sort of silly.

Tell me what you think of Li's reappearance, and of Jia and Yul. If you want any favorite characters of yours to come back, do tell me. I have to say that I have absolutely no idea what to do with poor . He had a purpose at first but I got bored of him so quickly, the poor lad, and now he is gathering dust in my head. I don't think we will be seeing much of him.

Please leave a review! Until next time!

-trogmorten.

P.S- hello to all the new coming readers! every single fav or follow warms my heart1 i do my best to write a it every day, before i go to sleep at about 2 am... :\ so, thank you, you give me the will to keep going!


	21. Chapter 21- Trembling

Chapter 21- Trembling

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><p>Although the tremor in his hands was annoyingly persistent, Gui had decided that he will not be kept away from his work. He stumbled over words that he once would have blinked through, and his reading glasses were now prominent on the tip of his nose to ease the stress from his eyes.<p>

The bell rings and with it comes shameful relief. His students bid him goodbye, some of the girls (and one boy) with a stammer and heated cheeks and he is left all alone, or so he thought. When the tremor in his hands gets violent and he drops his bag, Xiao Lan is there. Gui rubs his hand together and bit by bit it dies down.

"You'd think it would finally go away after a while but-" His attempt at a light hearted joke dies down when he sees how worried and haggard Xiao Lan looks. One of the classroom's windows is opened, and chilly afternoon's wind rushes through, making them both shudder.

"Xiao Lan, are you feeling well?" He asks, worried.

"It's funny how our roles have changed, isn't it?" She asks, with a half attempt of a smile, which fails. Gui doesn't answer, and the question hangs in the air heavily. To him, it seemed that Lan was searching something, the question was not even for him to hear.

"Sorry," She says, looking up "Long week."

It's a peace offering, and it is enough for Gui.

"If you don't have any other classes soon, would you like to accompany me to the park outside?" Gui asks, and realizes that it sounds like an invitation to a date. His cheeks color, but looking at her, and seeing an easy smile, calms him down.

The park is a bit draftier then Gui would have imagined for a day that started perfectly warm and sunny. Xiao Lan circles her slender neck with a hideous long orange scarf, but even with the hideousness of the garment, she looks pretty. Gui tries to avert his train of thoughts from his pretty-not-underage-student-who-he-really-shouldn' t-be-thinking-these-sort-of-things-about, and fails miserably.

"You didn't log into 'Second Life' for a long time" She says.

"Hmm? What?" Gui says, still trying to avert his traitorous mind the other way.

"Ummm" Xiao Lan pauses, "I mean, you haven't been sighted at SL for a long time, the fans are wondering…"

"My fans?" Asks Gui, surprised, "I thought I had mostly Prince fanatics try to track me down and throttle me for that concert. Who knew?" He laughs, but Lan's face falls, distraught. She really wasn't all that aware of the small-yet persistent hunt after Gui by her fangirls. It made her feel sick. The whole incident made her feel sick.

"Xiao Lan," Gui says, with wonder in his voice when he stops and turns, pointing at himself, "Might you be one of my fans?"

The jovial glow in his eyes pisses her off, and she says "HELL NO!" a bit too loudly for appropriate. But Gui never expects the expected from his student, and only laughs good naturally at her shamed blush when a bird nearby takes off in fright. He still remembered her visit at the hospital, and a little part of him cherished the very memory of it.

They walk in silence for a while, watching the trees sway and the sun bath everything in warm oranges and reds. It should have felt inappropriate, walking like this with his student, scurrying on the paths of the university garden's like a couple of star-crossed lovers.

"Where did you go that day, when the whole…incident… happened?" She asks, and the unsaid 'I was looking for you' rung in her ears like a song out of tune. He sends a thoughtful look at her, and Lan can see Gui contemplating whether to tell her or not.

"The new maps" He says after a while and a short awkward wait on Lan's side. "A friend of mine was looking forward to seeing it," he said, and Lan had the creeping suspicion he was referring to her general, Jia, "And I was…" He trails off, and Lan can see old hurt surfacing.

"I was upset that day," He says, "Prince had been avoiding me for weeks. Don't give me that look Feng Lan! It's not like the whole world had not seen that embarrassing excuse for a kiss at the concert" He is talking mostly to himself now, not aware of the effect his words are having on Lan. "He wouldn't even answer my messages, and it's not like I can communicate with him in real life, you must know how protective he is for his privacy. I don't even know his real name…"

Gui simply stares off to the dying sun sinking below the tree tops. He leans his head on the low ledge of bench, throat exposed. "I was upset" He says again, clinging to an unseen resolve. "So I went to the frozen tundra alone, like an idiot. I knew it was over my head by a dozen levels, but I didn't care. Just wanted to take my…uh…anger out on something."

He looks at Lan, but she too only stares at the treetops.

"An ice maggot turned into a dragon at least thirty levels above my chara rating, and I started running. I ran to the mountains, where there were even higher levels of monsters, and…" He trails off. "Well, the dragon caught me at the end and I woke up in a hospital."

"Why…" Lan has to swallow once before she can shake the mental image away, "Why didn't you log off?" She asks, and turns to see that he has a weird expression on his face.

"Couldn't. the game wouldn't let me."

"Oh" she says quietly, still feeling shame and guilt sinking onto her.

"I tried calling Jia a thousand times, but she was offline."

"I even tried contacting Prince a couple of times before if found the castle." He says, and lan perks up.

"What castle?" She asks.

"What? Oh, forget I said that, I was, eh, confused with another fight I had a while back."

She senses he will not be willing to talk about it any longer and she leaves it at that. They both just sit, She deep in her guilt and he deep in frightening memories of the frost queen. Time passes and Gui gets the hang of it when he glances at his clock.

"Oh my, It seems I have stolen a great deal of your time" When he turns to her and the sky are a stunning shade of blueish purple, the lamps aren't alight yet and she is too close to him to be appropriate.

He doesn't question or pull away when she raises her head a bit and her soft hands tangle in his short hair. In less than a second she is kissing him, like a woman kisses a man and not like a confused teen, biting her lips and looking into his eyes, but surely, like the thought of the act had long since banished any second thoughts, like she planned kissing him her whole life.

Gui's mind spin by her scent and her heated pressure. He shudders when her nails rake his scalp, lightly, like she knew what made him tick. His hands are almost touching her body, hovering, hesitant, and when he kisses her back she breaks contact.

Gui can barely get up, not to mention open his eyes, before she is gone, he can't even catch a glimpse of her hideous orange scarf. She vapors like a dream, and once again, Gui is alone after being kissed senseless, wondering what he had done wrong. Memories of the concert rise, but he put's Prince out of his mind, instead his thought are dominated by one miss Xiao Lan.

* * *

><p>Li sleeps undisturbed on the sofa he had dragged next to Jia's chair; he is so exhausted he doesn't even stir in his sleep. Jia is there, like the mother hen she is, wondering whether a person can have too many worries. The door opens with a jingle and when Jia turns her head to great the customer, a wide smile tugs at her lips.<p>

"Wicked?" She smiles, and the young man looks at her, hands in his pockets, looking stylishly messy. With two long-legged strides he is in front of the counter, looking giddy.

"I was starting to wonder if I'll ever find you!" His smile is sheepish, "I entered about five bookstores, and believe me," He said, "Some were willing to lie _they_ were the bloody phoenix".

Li is still asleep when Wicked, or Zhu Ling Bin, as turns out he had a real name, sits himself on the other side of Jia. He sips from a cup of tea that Jia was more then happy to provide, and they both marvel at the level of comfort they both feel, even though they had never seen each other in their lives.

"It's funny" he says after a while, "I have been learning at XXX University for a while now, and people have been mentioning your shop for a while, but I never had the time to stop by." Jia smiles, and hopes that the customers will stop staring at the both of them. She had the sneaking feeling that at least one of the teenagers at the back of the store had tweeted about it at least once. She dearly hoped that the tweet will be buried under a mysterious phone malfunction, as far as she could hope.

They talk about nonsense, but they are both grinning like teenagers, or at least old friends. The age gap was not even an issue when he shared funny stories from his childhood with her, and she told him about her son, and Tai Ning.

"How is Gui doing?" He asks somberly, and Jia marvels at how different he is in real life, for in the game his hatred for her der friend was palpable on occasions. She said her thoughts out loud and he looks bashful.

"I don't hate him. I mean," he pauses to think, "I used to, I hated him a great deal, but… it seems pointless to hate someone so heatedly. Gui doesn't deserve my hate, it's not all his fault, if there is fault to be taken here."

"I don't think Gui ever really hated you it's just… you know, Prince" She says a tad hesitantly. He can sense her anger at Xiao Lan, and it mingles with his anger and dissapointmetn, especially after _that_ night. What a mystake that was.

"I told Prince I loved him." He says suddenly, and Jia makes a little surprised noise.

"Brave," she noted, with an amused sigh "Especially with the whole concert fiasco his fans are going crazy."

"It wasn't in game" He says, and Jia jerks hard enough for some tea to spill on her skirt.

"Oh shoot." She cleans her clothes with a well-aimed napkin, while Zhu wonders why he had opened the issue altogether.

"Not in game, you mean a different game, or, you know, _real life_?" There was a strange quality to her voice and Zhu didn't think it was awe, but rather a strong desire to find Xiao Lan herself and smack her silly head, for Jia had made her loyalties very clear. Lolidragon once laughed and said it was like 'Bros before Hoes' and prince got mad at being called a hoe, but still the memory remained and Zhu laughed none the less.

He wonder what makes him put his trust in Jia, and spill his secrets before her when he says "Real life, I know who Prince really is for a while now."

Surprisingly she doesn't push him to talk, but he tells her about his confrontation with Lan, not mentioning her real name though, and still referring to his childhood crush as a male. He doesn't blush or stammer when he says he had kissed prince, more than once and that Prince had punched him and took off.

"Don't get me wrong, and all, but Prince has got to get his- excuse my French- shit together" Jia says with a heavy-minded tone, full of seriousness, which in turn elicits a short bark of laughter from Zhu and a soft snort from Li.

"Don't you get tired of his indecisiveness, Zhu? Doesn't it bother you that it seems he just doesn't care about the both of you?"

"Don't say that, Jia. It's more complicated than it looks."

"Really?" she raises a doubting brow, "Because it seems to me that avoiding Gui for almost three weeks in game is a rather mean thing to do, and pardon me for saying, he was as enthusiastic about that on-stage kiss as Gui was. The whole thing reeks, and it is hurting the both of you, and his fans."

Zhu doesn't say much, he stares at the sun that started setting outside.

"You know," he says after a while, and a whole different conversation later, "I think that if this was ever a competition… I think I am on the losing side".

She doesn't say much and he know it's hard for her to be objective since Gui I probably her best friend, but when she hands him a book and pats his back, like his mother used to, he knows that coming to seek her out was a good idea after all.

* * *

><p>At night, When Gui lays in Tian's spare room, holding his 'Second Life' helmet, he wishes that he wasn't so afraid. 'It is just a game', Tian tried to tell him, But the University's nurse cannot bring him any comfort, other than reassuring him he will be close by in game and just in the next room to him in real life.<p>

When he puts on the helmet he panics and Tian is there in a minute, pulling the helmet off, his arm around Gui as he cries, rocking back and forth. Tian tells him to breathe slowly, or he will pass out.

"Are you sure you want to go back tonight?" Tian asks gently when Gui is calm again, and Gui nods.

This time when Gui tries to log in Tian is still by his side, and when Gui's breathing is steady Tian puts on his own helmet.

The cool breeze that blows through Infinite City's and the rays of the ever-present sun cannot calm Gui's mind like they used to. The rays of his regeneration circle dies down, and the murmurs reach his ears. He doesn't bother looking at the surprised players, who had no doubtfully spotted and recognized him by now, instead he walks out the white marble building with sure strides, looking for Tian. The weight of his guqin feels different, and he notes with mild surprise that his whole attire is different. His cream colored cloak is no replaced by a stark whit cloak, embroidered with beautiful delicate silver patterns of a snow blizzard. His purple clothes are also whit, trimmed with black and silver embroidery, his undershirt is a mourner's black, so are a pair of black velvet gloves stuck stylishly from his silver interacted belt and a pair of high, black leather boots. He checks the data and sees his new garments raise his stats, and has no complaints about the new decoration.

His guqin is another matter altogether. It had the same smooth feeling it had in his hands in the ice palace, the same deep red specks littering the stone like dried blood, the same ridges and bridges, ornate vibrating with untold magical capacity. He thought about throwing it away when he saw talon markings on the back, but the words he had saw- "_**There are many shapes to a key"**_were gone.

He slung it on his back in the leather straps and strode on. Prince's fans did not disturb him on his way to the Infinite stronghold. Gui hoped they were not aware of his presence in game yet. He needed time to think, because- really?- what was so important he had to log in _tonight_?

But the answer was crystal clear and loud.

_**Xiao Lan**_.

She was the reason. He was not guilty of the kiss. That surprised even him. He hadn't told anyone of their encounter, and probably won't tell until he got the answer he wanted from Prince.

"Tian?" He messaged to his friend, "Is Prince in the main hall now?"

"Yea," came the answer, "he doesn't know you are coming, I didn't tell a soul, not even Yulian, and I think she knows with those glares she keeps sending my way." Tian paused, and Gui, knowing his friend knew he wanted to know what was going on.

"You can ask, but don't be so sure I will be giving you the answers you want to hear" He says, and he hears Tian sigh over the connection. "Why all the secrecy, what is going on?"

Gui doesn't answer, but rather speeds up the stairs of the tower, heading toward the main hall, the throne's chamber. The two grand oaken doors open on their own accord, as one of the ruling party enters the heart of the city.

"Gui-Gui!" He hears the familiar, loved thrilled shout, and doll projects herself from the small table, into a smashing hug of Gui's midsection. The rest of the odd squad follows suit, with as much enthusiasm as little doll showed.

Tian stays seated, only raises a hand and waves a small 'hello again', smiling when Yulian starts rumbling of how worried she was and 'you should have at least called!' on which Lolidragon joins the ranting.

What the fail to notice at first is that Gui doesn't look their ways. He pins Prince in place with his intense gaze. It is not a completely dewy-eyed-loving gaze, but rather a somber one, a gaze that is followed by questions.

Prince was in the middle of rising from his throne and running away unceremoniously when Gui's hawk like eyes caught him, and seated him back down with the sole guilt inflicting quality of eyes.

Little by little, his friends sense the change in mood, and following his look they understand. Doll lets go of his midsection with one last loving squeeze, and his gentle pat on her head reassures her that they will get to talk, once the urgent matter is dealt with. Yulian takes her away, where she seats with Loli and Tian at the table, going over some sketches of renewals for Infinite city's defenses. They sit far enough that it is obvious they do not want to bother Gui.

Prince sits back heavily in his throne, and a blank, unreadable mask is pulled o his features.

Gui stands there, letting himself take in Prince's visage, his anger doesn't abate his feeling, only inflames them. Prince looks so… regular, like in his little perfect world nothing have really changed, like it didn't matter Gui was gone.

"Hello Prince."

Prince only stares at him.

"It seems I had finally got you alone"

Prince stays frozen in place, face unreadable, and somewhere deep in Gui disappointment wash away the anger. He feels like he had been crying for a while, and had that particular feeling of completion. He was rid of his anger, of his shame, of his aching heart. It didn't matter anymore.

It didn't matter Prince had kissed him back at the arena, or that he had sent him to the regeneration spot in mid-concert when they kissed. It didn't even mattered he had been avoiding him like a child up until now.

"I think I have had enough, Prince." Gui says.

He thought he'd have a big, long speech, say something that might elicit some kind of response from Prince, but instead, he turns away from him, and takes three stairs down from the high ramp where he sits until-

"Had enough of what?" Prince's soft tenor asks.

"You."

Gui is guiltily satisfied at the hurt that flash on Prince's perfect face for a moment before they contort in his well-known childish anger.

"What?"

"I have had enough of you, of your childish behavior. I am not a toy to be played with and then tossed aside. Not me and not wicked. We are both humans." His fists clench as anger comes back, "I am no longer willing to be the fool-in-love, or a fool at all," he laughs, as he remembers his first encounter with Prince " At first it was just for fun, I was new, I didn't know what I was doing, and annoying you was fun. Until I saw my motivations have changed."

Gui turns fully to Prince.

"Prince I have been so hopelessly in love with you," He takes a breath, "but you stepped on me. You didn't have the heart to look down at me when you passed me. I thought I didn't care, but I do." Tear flow down his cheeks, and he doesn't wipe them away, this needed to be said.

"I was hospitalized for almost three weeks, Prince. My life can't go back to the state they were before. I don't think I-"

"-Gui!" Prince tried to interrupt, but Gui cuts in, "No, Prince! Shut up! You've done enough. You are not the one who has to wake up, thinking 'what have I done wrong now' or 'I wish I was someone else', 'maybe Prince would have loved me if I was different'. You are not the one to see the faces of those you hurt. Do you even care about Wicked? Do you even care about me?"

Prince tries to answer but Gui is too angry, too swept in his own little vendetta to care, and where he would have never raised his voice at his loved prince, now he raged.

"NO!"

He can feel the gazes of his friends on his back. "You can't pull my string anymore!" He is trying hard to calm himself down, his voice lowering to his regular tone once more." I can be your friend, maybe, but nothing more. I have moved on." And with a satisfying sense of finality he steps down from the throne, and careens toward the great oaken doors.

"Gui wait!" He doesn't.

Two strong hands catch him in mid step, in between the throne room and the stairs, not thoroughly in any of them.

"You…Don't… please."

There is a heartbeat before Prince pulls him down, like a princess from romantic comedies, catching him in both hands, his back arched over him, Gui's long hair brushing the clean marble floor, and for the second time that day he is kissed senseless.

Prince holds him with an almost urgent need, kissing him deeply, and Gui breaths deep, soaking in his smell. His lips are warm and determined, he doesn't give Gui enough time to breath when he dives back in, biting his bottom lip, licking it gently as he resumes he recent activity of melting Gui completely.

Gui can hear Tian restraining Loli, with a hand over her mouth which barely muffles her high-pitched 'OH MY GOOOOOOD!' and Yulian's thoughtful 'Oh my."

But after the initial blissful arousal, Gui feels that it wasn't the same, and he breaks contact. Prince looks at him, lips red and bitten, huffing, eyes hazy. Gui breaks Prince's hold and raises to a standing position. He wipes his bottom lips which cracked a bit.

"I am sorry." He says, and he can see the final meaning descending on Prince.

"Gui, don't go-"

"There is… I think there is someone else. I like her, a lot, but I hope I will feel for her what I have felt for you for so long someday."

Prince doesn't say goodbye when Gui bids him farewell, but old habit die hard for Prince, and Gui will never again be taken for granted.

* * *

><p><span><strong>A\N<strong>- Well. Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review!

(Life has been… well, frankly, horrible lately, but I am not abandoning Jia yet!)

Shout-out for all of you who reviewed, subscribed and favorite OtherLand! You bring me joy!


	22. Chapter 22- Yes, No, pasta and soup

Chapter 22- Yes, No, pasta and soup.

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><p>What a blasted morning that was. First, a hurrying uni-student bumped him on the way, making him pill his coffee, he was out of cigs and his lighter broke under someone's foot. Secondly, His boss was the greatest prick of all time, it was not fair. The promotion was his! It should have been but that kiss-ass from cubicle 7 got it instead. If that idiot would pick up his head and stop harassing poor Sarah for once, he'd see how much devotion he had for his job.<p>

It was a bad morning for Tsu-Bin.

He pushed his glasses farther up his nose and silently prayed that the stupid coffee stain would dry off. He clicked on his computer and tried to sneak a peek at the pretty new-employee that click-claked by as she passed on those sexy high-heels.

Gods, he wished she'd drop something and bend over.

The screen continued to show him the data running. At first being on 'Second Life's data safety team was fun, even exciting. Sure, there were perks for good work and arranged office holidays, but after a while, staring at the screen and knowing nothing would change, that all was good with the data sequence that made the fabric of SL, was just plain boring.

He poked his head out of his cubicle, glasses riding down his nose. The only thing in sight was the coffee table, with a couple of misplaced cups, and nothing on the other end of the hall.

He sneaked a smile and flipped to a different window; Tits. What his work manager didn't know wouldn't hurt Tsu Bin, he was pre occupied with Sarah any way.

He even thought about unzipping his pants until his computer beeped.

"What the fuck?"

It beeped again and again and again and that stupid alarm he had only heard in his first team briefing went off and the screen turned an angry red.

They were being hacked. He looked at the screen, adjusting his glasses higher. He could hear foot steps running towards him, toward his booth. After all, he was responsible for Infinite city's running data. He closed the other screen. He will catch up on the latest boobs later.

But the data looked fine, something was amiss. What was he missing? What was happening?

The work manager shouted orders, for once leaving poor Sarah alone and actually doing his job. One after another the alarms started go off and he could see the red hue of the screen color the ceiling.

Something moved wrong and-

-snap!

The data was moving wrong, something was crawling up the data stream, something that shouldn't be able to move on its own will.

"Dear lord, is that an NPC?"

* * *

><p>It felt like there was something strange on the wind in XXX city, but Gui had no real mind for solving problems in the morning. He was embarrassed, truthfully, for that over-the-top 'how dare you betray my trust' speech. Life was turning into a cliché bit by bit and it was disconcerting to feel that he did not care all that much anymore.<p>

After leaving the game last night, Tian had laughed his ass off while making them both a cup of tea. De-cafe, of course, they were both working man, with serious jobs and dignity- hence why they stayed up and saw a Simon Pegg movie until it was responsible to stay up any longer.

Surprisingly his mind didn't linger on the kiss.

_THE KISS_ as Tian had dubbed it, caps lock and all. He said Lolly almost had a fit when she discovered that her flying-demon-cameras didn't catch anything incriminating. Gui could only feel lighter with some of that in-game fandom politics finally moving its dissecting eyes away from him. He could actually focus on work now, he mused. Or even take a vacation, hang out with Jia and Kuan, go fly away, start wearing purple shirts again, just to annoy people.

Maybe a kilt too.

He had the time now, with the end of the semester already knocking on the door. He saw a girl checking him out when she got off the train, eyes firmly on his rear end, and had that satisfactory jolt of 'still have it' attitude. People were staring at him when his face broke into a satisfied grin, his hand still clutching the sweaty plastic handle of XXX city's subway train as the train moved on.

It finally felt like a regular morning, in the best of ways

Regular, calm and wonderful.

For the first time her really took time to appreciate the simple minded boredom of checking out the last trickle of assignments and appreciate the beauty of mundane life; like smelling an old sock you had found under the bed and thinking 'that is not so bad' while you put it on.

Tian had dropped by, still laughing at last night's weirdness, dropping a small box of pastries Gui was nibbling through slowly.

He felt truly happy, so when Xiao Lan entered his room like a brewing storm, he could only respond with a lazy smile and a simple 'hello'.

She didn't answer, crossing her arms over her chest, staring daggers at him. He continued to mark the last papers while she tried her best to peel of his skin with the powers of her mind.

'Remember', he sighed inwardly, 'beautiful, calm, _regular_ morning'

"No hello back? Or were you expecting a 'good morning' kiss perhaps?" he jests, trying to lift the mood. It fails horribly by the apathetic look on her face.

Still no answer.

'Well', he thought, ' I am not falling into this, I had a nice morning and I intend to stay with a juvenile smile on my face until the sun sets down'.

"Did you sleep well?"

"No."

That was a start.

He looks at her and is struck by a thing Jia had once said. 'Don't poke the sleeping dragon in the eye'. It was in game, and the end to that farce was both of them beamed up and dropped unto their asses in regeneration point, laughing as they patted the fire that nibbled their clothes out.

"Don't you love Prince?" She asks finally, and Gui kisses his relaxed morning goodbye with teary eyes.

"Can we not talk about him?" he pleads.

"Rumor has it," She continues mercilessly, "that you dumped him". Her tone is light, and has an edge to it Gui can't explain. Was she jealous, or angry? "I might say that since there was nothing really happening between us at that point, no 'dumping' had occurred, since there was nothing to actually dump."

"How can you say that?" She says. It's all a bit too quick, a bit too angry and raw, not concealed well and throbbing, which only confuses Gui more.

"Are you mad at me for 'dumping' Prince?" He ask, dumbfounded, "I always thought people will be glad when that happened," he pauses, "Maybe the other way round when you think of it."

"You really think there was no chance for you to be with Prince _ever_?" she presses and steps toward his desk. Strangely Gui feels caged and when she puts her hands on her hips and tilts her chin _just so_ something tries to click into place in his head.

"Why is this an issue?" he clears his throat. After that kiss in the park (not _THE KISS_ he reminds himself) he was under the impression she had saw something about him that she liked. "I thought that we…um…" he starts saying and stopping himself, because saying 'I thought there was something between us' sounded petulant.

"Well, _I_ thought we had." She says, not bothering to mask her irritation as her hands dart to her head, frustrated. He stares at her.

Wha-

And then everything fell into place in his mind with the greatest resounding metaphorical 'CLANG' he had ever experienced. The stance, the mannerism, the smile, the silly humor, the slightly over familiar questions in class, It all hit him with a great punch of familiarity he felt humiliated he had missed such an obvious sign up until then.

Good-bye, sayonara and shalom to the nice morning he had been having. It all blew away the minute their eyes met again and she saw the horrible recognition in his eyes. Like a hailstorm and another thousand cheap metaphors for some big realizations, world-view-adjusting and serious feeling he was having a hard time not spilling all over.

Xiao Lan was saying stuff, but he doesn't hear her at all. She was a girl all along. All along. She lied to him _ALL ALONG_. He fell for it. She had been sitting before him the whole time (the whole TIME). he had been close, mistaking her _twin_ for Prince. Was he a plaything for this girl? He thought, snapping himself up. Her eyes said differently, but he had a hard time taking her seriously right now.

"You are a girl and I'm not gay" he says accusingly. How very eloquent. She tries to say something, but he has so much rage in him he shuts her up with a look. A small rational part of him tries to tell him he was also mad at his own stupidity and blindness; a helping little voice, really- trying to put out flames by pouring gasoline on it.

"Was it fun watching me squirm?" he asks. He doesn't have shame at the amount of venom that drips from his tone. "Was it nice, passing your time playing with two adult men?" It surprises him how angry he is for Wicked; he sincerely hopes the man didn't know a thing about this.

"I didn't mean for things to go this way!" She says matching him in volume he was not aware he had risen. "Things got out of hand in game! I was there just to play!"

"As I have noticed" he says dryly.

"Oh don't you play all innocent on me, Guileastos!" She heats up, "You were a part of that mess too with your energy and, being charming with your cheekbones like a damn fairy-tale prince!"

He stares at her, and a weird silence falls. She crosses her arms again and the red tint and pout on her face are almost comical.

"I still remember the soup!" She accuses, pointing at his direction and suddenly, a great big laugh escaped his mouth in a shameful tumble. He shakes so hard from it he has to seat himself back down, or risking falling again

Soup.

Dragon soup.

That stupid soup he had made to piss him (her?) off. She still remembered that idiotic nonsense. She chose to bring that single thing up from the whole messy turmoil that was Prince and Gui's relationship. That-god awful-crappy-expensive- soup. He was up on his feet in a moment, around his desk, wrapping his arms around her and planting a kiss on the top of her silly head. Her arms wrap around him instinctively, but she looks up bewildered.

"Are you just…magically alright with all this?" She asks quietly.

"No." he says, "I am really, _very_ angry with you." He adds and feels her shrivel a bit in his hands. "But I think we can start rebuilding after the debris will be cleared away." He can almost feel her heartbeat quicken.

"How do I even start to clean?" she whispers.

* * *

><p>The water in the big pot started boiling and added it bubbling noise to the merry cacophony in the house. There was a thin layer of flour coating Jia's hair, a smudge of tomato sauce on her nose and a big smile plastered on her face. The 'Scorpions' were thrumming from the radio in the living room, where Li was spinning to the beat, laughing.<p>

It was pasts night, or so Jia and Li had decided three or so hours ago. Tai Ning will be returning later tonight, and Kuan Yin had promised to drop by. She didn't know how comfortable she felt about him sleeping over at Xiu Mi's house for so long, but her boy was turning into a man and he seemed very happy when she saw him. Li avoided him on those occasions, which was odd.

"Li the water are boiling" she informs him, trying to talk over the music.

They cut the pasta to thin ribbons and drop them one by one into the water. Li stirs the tomato sauce dutifully when suddenly his head snaps to attention and his ears perk.

"Did you hear that?"

Jia tries to listen, but the music is too loud. Li is out of the kitchen, turning down the volume. She can hear him the door opens before she can come to the living room, and there, on her doorstep, standing like a force of nature, stands Li's father.

He was never an especially tall man, not very menacing, he was prone to bored silence when they'd meet on parent's night at school or on occasional meetings. He never looked like this. For a small horrible moment she had a little shriveled feeling of helpless ness, the need to run and hide, to be protected.

She shoved it down, and shoved it hard.

She stepped lightly around Li, arms crossed in front of her like a shield as that piercing gaze fixated on her. "You are not welcome here." She says calmly.

"I am welcome where ever it is I want to be welcomed at, woman"

Ah, he said it with such force. She didn't rise up to the bait.

"Not in my house, as long as I am here"

"He will come with me. Li, go get your stuff." Li starts to march obediently, but he stops abruptly, eyes staring to the kitchen. Their plan of a nice pasta night seemed far away in his eyes.

"You don't get to waltz in here and order him around after the damage you had caused him." She interrupts. She can feel Li's eyes on her as his father's cheeks color. "He fell down the stairs."

"After you beat him and pushed him off it, yes."

"Are you insinuating that-"

"I am not insinuating" She cuts him off, "I am telling you that if you do not remove yourself from my house immediately, I will call the police, and child services and tell them all about your actions to disciple your child."

Panic radiates off Li in waves when his father takes a daring step into the apartment. A heavy hand lands on his shoulder.

"I believe" Says a deep voice, "The lady asked you to go."

Tai Ning had the timing of a guardian angel, Jia wasn't even pissed by the idea of damsel in distress anymore. She was merely relieved.

"Don't you touch me" the angered man says and flinches away from Tai Ning, only now noting his physic., "You great bear of a man!"

Tai Ning smiles politely.

"You are a small, shallow vile man, who doesn't appreciate the generous, kind, smart boy he has, and I am deeply sorry for your inability to see pass people's choice of partners as a tool for judging character."

"Get out, dad." Li says, and his voice has a greater effect on the mood, "I already have 911 dialed on my cell" He shows him the screen of his new phone, a replacement he had bought himself after the last phone broke, along with Li tooth on the stairs of his home.

"I don't want to see you anymore."

There is a hard moment when they just look at each other, but they are apparently all judged as a waste of time, and the man leaves them to the sound of an over flowing pasta pot.

"Shit" Jia curses and runs to the kitchen, hoping that some semblance of control could be brought back to their evening. Li joins her as she does her best to asses if the pasta was salvageable.

"I don't think he actually cared if I'd come" Li says, and Jia wants to say something, anything really, to shake the disappointment out of his eyes, "It's nice to know that I don't really care anymore" he adds.

Tai Ning enters the kitchen, a simple T-shirt replacing his previous blue button-up shirt. He kisses her lightly and wraps her with his long arms. He looks toward the pasta pot, the water that had spilled on the floor and the general mess.

Li turns and smiles, Jia can see his chipped tooth, but his face is alight with something new and refreshing.

He judged the pasta salvageable. They sit down and eat, the smile stays on.

* * *

><p>It was wonderful to be back in game, Doll judges, prancing around in her little ridiculous uniform. It was a tiring day, and god forbids if the blasted duke of Shalespare be insulted by the princess's lack of attention, so for the sake of her pleading sister, she had behaved. What a drab man was the duke. It was ridiculous her father even considered <em>that<em> a proper match for her, even if it was only a political match, after all, princess or not, being the third child still made her have duties of her own. She was happy to see her older sister so content in her own marriage, but why spring things on her so quickly?

She was only nearing nineteen, even if in game people thought she was twelve.

She walked a large dirt road leading toward Infinite city. She could have a resurrected beast carry her there, but what was the point of wasting such a nice endless sun, the chirping of the birds and that slightly unnerving flow of cold air.

Oh. So he _had_ noticed she had logged on today.

Caelus materializes in a shift of air, bringing all his silly pompousness and floral scent with him. She liked it. She liked _him_ a lot.

Funny how love worked like that, she mused.

She didn't linger on the fact he was not as real in the flesh and blood sense she would have wanted. She had her duties and he was an NPC, it was wonderful as long as it could stretch.

"My love, come back with me" He says with urgency, and she smiles at him.

"You always say that, I am not changing my mind."

He huffs and shifts in front of her, sitting on air as if he was sitting on a chair, moving along with her, his long silvery hair shifting with the occasional burst of wind. She thought his temper issues were cute, and he thought 'cute' was the wrong word to use. He wanted to be revered as 'Awe-striking', which in a way was cute too.

"I mean it this time, love!" he says, a bit too urgently, differently from the usual flirtatious banter.

"I thought you always meant it! I wonder if I should feel a tad insulted…"

"Do not twist my words around, you infuriating princess" He says, and she knows he means 'infuriating princess' in the best of ways. He puts a familiar cold hand on her shoulder and she stops.

"Something bad is about to happen there" He says, and she can hear he is frightened. It sends and icy jolt down her spine, she never heard him truly scared, it was a part of their little bubble of delusion they were trying to maintain, both of them too aware of the situation to fully marvel in it.

"Then I can't just abandon my friends to suffer, can I? What kind of princess will I be then?"

His hands are pushing back his hair into a resemblance of his fancy hairdo after a gust of wind messes it. "The infuriatingly stubborn type, apparently." He mutters. She pats his cheek fondly and he catches her hands ad looks into her eyes.

"It will be bad" he says, "The hills are already frosting over."

"Frosting over? What?"

But she understands with a small gasp.

"Please take me to my friends"

For once Caelus doesn't argue.

* * *

><p>A\N- I will not start counting the unfortunate events that lead me to this horrible delay, I will just say 'Massive-writer's-block' and be done with it.<p>

Please leave a review, it will mean the world to me.

God, it's 02:17 at night and I can't even sleep. I feel like things are falling apart and I can't really hold them together anymore, seriously don't have the strength for it anymore. The army is so incredibly tiring and about three of my friends tried to commit suicide, saved two- the other was found (alive) by my friend. Seems stupid to think about it so much, I like living, but must everything seem so incredibly drab?

Didn't mean to write all this, but who knows, maybe an outsource might be nice to being judged all the time.

With a sad note,

-Trogmorten


	23. Chapter 23- Daydreams and nightmares

Chapter 23- Daydreams and nightmares.

* * *

><p>It was strange, being killed by the cobblestones. It was even stranger no one noticed the first player to drop dead. Maybe drama hasn't ensued since 'death' was not permanent in game. Some points will be deducted and with a bright flash, you were at the re-birth point. Not something to think of much, certainly when the player falling dead was a noob, fresh out of the training ground.<p>

Nobody cared and no one noticed.

Even the noob thought it was an in game glitch.

He was revived (minus some experience points), got confused for about half a minute and then strolled happily out of the re-birth point, noting that indeed, it was rather chilly today.

It was rather cold indeed.

"Isn't it a little cold today?" Asked Gui with a knowing smile, looking at Xiao Lan- Prince- who was pretending she didn't mind the unpredictable chill in the air.

She shot him a piercing glare which made his smile widen. That girl would rather stand in the rain and drown instead of admitting she should have stayed in. it had a certain undeniable alluring flare to it, but right now, Xiao Lan was refusing to accept Gui's coat. Her nose was tinged red and her whole frame shook slightly. Gui wondered how badly she might injure him if he took liberties and kissed the tip of her nose.

He wondered if a bruised rib was a fair judgment.

They had both entered a small cafe when his phone vibrated in his coat's pocket, he paid it no heed. He'd be dammed if he'd spoil a date like that. He felt a little silly for the giddy thrill that ran through him. A date? What, was he fifteen? But the undeniable happiness that trailed after him that whole day, like a small private sunshine, was still going strong.

They were both nestling two cups of coffee, he a latte, and she a neat black with two sugar cubes. It was quite, comfortably so. He caught her glancing at him, her eyes half hidden in the coffee mug. He flashed a smile and she turned her gaze hastily away.

His phone buzzed again, and a small cloud of annoyance passed over his little sunshine. It was late outside, the sun was kissing the tops of the buildings as it sank down slowly. It was a good day for Gui.

Xiao Lan looked very fetching in a green wool dress, and brown leggings. She looked beautiful, lively, more then he had ever seen her at the classroom. He was saddened by the though that she would try to hide herself, dim her bright passionate fire away from him, and her classmates, all because of fear of being outed.

His phone buzzed a third time, while they were chatting amiably, a fourth while they snacked on an overly expensive piece of cake, and a fifth time. He hissed angrily, and received a questioning look from Xiao Lan.

"Excuse me a moment, Lan..." He got up from his seat, gesturing with his phone as he got up and excused himself.

The wind outside chilled him and he bounced on the balls of his feet as he unlocked his phone. Some girls were sizing him up with hungry eyes and he turned hastily, glancing at the lighted screen.

Five unanswered calls, sixteen text messages.

He clicked frantically on the small screen, willing the small machine to work faster. Not a moment later his phone was away from his ears, as a woman, sounding much like lolidragon screamed at him in three languages.

"...Is it a custom of men not to answer their bloody phones?!"

"Loli?"

"Who the fuck did you think it was?!" She fumed on the other end of the line, "Even Jia answered her phone quicker then you, and she sounded busy," There was a pause "Boyfriend _busy_".

He didn't want to know that at the moment...

"What is it?"

"Where are you _right now_, i'll send a car over."

"Send a what?"

"A car, geez, I though you lived in a city."

"I, Uh..."

He glanced toward Xiao Lan, who seemed to play idly with some melting ice cream left on the plate, She seemed happy. Her hand fished in her bag, she too pulled her phone, her brow crinkling with concern...

"I'll send you my location in a text," He huffed, and took an accusing tone, "I'm on a date, FYI", He said, imitating the way Loli usually shortened her speech. There was an odd silence on the other side of the phone, and then a small squeal.

"A date?! Is he hot?" Loli squealed.

"Wha-He?! It's a girl!" He said pointedly.

"I think I can see you, is it you with the horrible old-man's coat?"

Gui looked around, and spotted a big black car, heading his way. He waved his hand.

"Yep, that's your ugly coat alright..." And she hung up.

A hand looped into his hand, "What are we waiting for?" Xiao Lan chirped happily, and Gui blanched. At his expression she snickered, "I told the waitress to put it on your tab, _Professor, Goo- what?"_ She asked as he tried to mumble a warning, but as he stumbled over his words, a tall young woman got out of the black car. It was so strange seeing Loli in a three piece suit, with a tasteful pencil skirt instead of her glaring pink get up in game.

Xiao Lan's eyes went comically round, and her face turned an alarming shade of crimson.

"Gui, get your skinny ass over here." Loli commanded, she opened her mouth to say more, but her eyes landed on Xiao Lan. "Hello again, Prince."

Gui was ushered hastily into the car, pushed into a seat, Xiao Lan was crammed into the seat next to him. He took a breath and then-

"Hello, _AGAIN, Prince?!"_ At Xiao Lan's embarrassment, the little sun still fighting the clouds of annoyance set completely, "Really, was I the last to know?"

Loli looked between them, and cut in, "Probably, but right now, You will probably want to know that Infinite city is under attack."

Kuan Yin was perfectly warm in Xiu Mi's embrace. He though he'd never be able to detach himself from her. He announced so and received a definite pat on his bottom and an admonition not to be a 'silly boy'. He hated the bus when it came, cutting their love-murmurs short, and hated it as it left the station, leaving him Xiu Mi-less. They would surely meet again in game in a few hours, but it was still depressing.

His friends had complained about his absence, but his mother had been strangely accepting, with a strict rule to 'always answer the phone when I call' so she'll know he's alright. He was seventeen now, the youngest in his class, Xiu Mi was eighteen. His friend's had laughed and her friends had whispered, but he had looked at her and smiled, it never really mattered, not really. For all he knew he loved this girl, and he sure damn hoped she loved him too, the way he had told her and showed her.

He walked down the darkening road, kicking a stone along, letting his legs carry him home. It was a long walk, but Kuan had no will to cram himself into a bus seat at the moment. He hoped Li wouldn't be at home when he came back. It was awkward to look a him now, when he cared so little for what had happened between them. Kuan Yin felt like a jerk, Xiu-Mi tried to tell him differently, but the feeling never changed. He had betrayed his best friend, he never would have known he was kicked out of his own house if he wasn't currently living in the spare room of his home. One day he they have not spoken for a few months, the next he's there next to him, eating breakfast at the kitchen's table, his face black and blue.

Kuan Yin had been mortified, to his shame he expected retribution, snide comments, angry glares, something. But nothing came, Li was perfectly polite, helping his mother at clearing the dishes from the table after dinner, tidying a little bit where he went, he even smiled at occasions, but he always looked a little sad. His mother had forbidden him to ask about what had happened and Li was at no rush sharing with him the finer details. Tai Ning had said nothing, hands on his hips, waiting for Jia to finish her hushed instructions. It was a little confusing, Tai Ning had been a surprise too, but he gradually became a part of his everyday landscape. Filling the seat on the sofa next to his mother, standing in front of the stove, cooking dinner, reading a book on the couch at the shop, kissing her cheeks lovingly.

It was ailien, to see someone filling the roles he had always imagined his father taking. But the face of his father was now only the picture on the table, he couldn't remember him smiling any more. So he ran to Xiu-Mi's. His mother had understood.

Kuan stopped his gradually darkening thoughts when he arrived at home, climbing the stairs, searching for his keys in the pockets of his jeans. Where the hell were they? He was so sure he had put them there just before walking Xiu-Mi to the bus.

Light fell on the dark stairs when the door opened, revealing Li, looking puzzeled.

"What are you searching for?"

"My Keys, I think I forgot them at Xiu-Mi's house..." he said sheepishly, walking in as Li cleared the opening. There were strange men in house. One young, perhaps at his twenties, wearing a formal suit, sitting on the edge of a seat stationed next to the couch, wringing his hands, his back to him. The other man was older than his mother, with laughing lines on his face, currently he was looking very somber, hands clasped at his back, he stood firm and turned his head to look at Kuan.

But it didn't really matter to him when he saw who sat at the couch.

Jia and Tai-Ning sat close to one another,the smooth white helmet-sets of 'Second Life' on their heads, eyes closed. Small white machines lay around them, at their feet and their sides, monitoring their vitals through thin tubes connected to their skin, they were holding hands as they slept.

He turned to look at Li, panicked and angry.

"What the fuck?!"

Little pink pieces of brain spun through the air as the _Vengeance_ slice neatly through a creature scalp. It didn't even howl as it fell, turning into a red small beam of light, dropping money with a happy jingle, but Jia had no time to collect as three other creatures attacked her with gusto.

She felt a big Hell-hound's jaw clamp down on her armor-clad leg as she tried to jump back. She crushed into the ground with a shout as the other two pounced on her. Her elbow found one's eye socket as her armor crunched his bones and he disappeared too. Coins fell on her armor with a jingle when she hastily jammed her rapier into a soft underbelly. The jaw was suddenly gone when a great big black panther tore the hell-hound's spine with a sharp clawed paw. His shiny black pelt was ruffled, and bloodied, she checked his character's data, it wasn't his blood at least, but an NPC's.

"Tai-Ning, are you alright?" she asked with concern as he stood up, reverting to his human form, pulling out a great wooden longbow, shooting an approaching hell-hound between the eyes.

"Hell hound's taste awful, in never want to bite one again".

He tried to joke as he helped her up, checking her leg for any puncture holes. Hell-hound's saliva worked like poison, lowering the health points stealthily while the player was distracted. He sighed with relief when he found none, it was quality armor, after all.

"They won't let me fly off," Jia muttered as she checked the_ vengeance_'s edge, the hell hounds had scurried off to find weaker opponents. She could see Infinite city's great walls at the distance. Dread rose in her. The game had logged her in at a distance, as it did Tai Ning. The game masters thought it'll be safe like that, not to drop them in the heart of the commotion, not knowing volleys after volleys of rouge NPC's were waiting to attack any player trying to reach the city.

Odd squad's chat channel was strangely quite, none having time to send mental messages as theyall fought. The little map at the right side of her vision showed her the small blue dot's of her friends location. Most of them had been revived in the heart of the mess.

A small dot was approaching her quickly, too quickly for it to be walking or running on land.

"Prince has finally logged in," Said Tai-Ning, as he scanned the grassy field they were standing in, "As did Gui-Wen."

Jia nodded, shading her eyes as she scanned the sky for the approaching friend, If Prince had logged in it must mean Sunshine and Kenshin were coming to get them on the flying carpet. thank god, her wings had been chewed on and mangled on the second volley of hell monsters and they had no healer or a priest to heal them.

She could see the carpet approaching, sighing with relief, Tai Ning said something, pointing to the horizon. She turned to look at him and a large rock the size of a large pumpkin smashed into her head with a thunk. She fell to the ground in a heap, shouting in agony as pain hit her nerves. Disorientation kept her down for a few more seconds as she struggled to take her dented helmet off and stand up. Where was her sword?  
>The sky became the ground again and she fell to the ground a second time.<p>

Growling warningly, Tai Ning, as the great panther stood his ground in front of an earth worm. It was monstrously big, rows upon rows of teeth waiting to shred its opponents, pail sand colored skin stretched over moving muscles. Tai Ning growled deep in his throat, his avatar growing in size, black hair bursting from his neck, thickening into a mane. His muscles bulged, legs moving apart, feline fangs growing. In the panther's stead now stood a massive black maned lion.

Jia could barely lift her head as the ground turned once again. She tried to rummage through her inventory, trying to use the vocal commands and failing. Her health meter was beeping, the edge of her vision becoming red as she struggled to help Tai-Ning.

She heard shouts as a large group of players burst trough the trees, all dressed with Infinite city's guard uniforms. Spells began falling all around them, bouncing off the hard, horn like exo-skeleton growing off the worm's head. The worm trumpeted, three voices overlapping as it dug its way toward the guards.

Hands picked her up, a shoulder digging into her stomach as she was hoisted up. Red hair tickled her nose as she lifted her head. The great worm was raging, crashing players with her body. It was like fireworks, spells rebounding, players turning into beams of light. Her carrier was running away and suddenly she was dumped none too gently on soft material.

The beeping gradually stopped as buffs and healing spells washed over her. Her vision cleared and a hand fell on her shoulder. Tai Ning was looking at her with concern.

"Jia," He started, concerned, and she cut him, "I'm fine, the healing spells help, I'm just disoriented."

Wind washed her hair back and she notice two pairs of eyes looking at her. Kenshin stared at her, sitting on his knees next to her, holding her helmet and rapier on his knees. Arctic wolf sat at the edge of the carpet, directing it and urging on its speed, holding long golden tassels in his hands, like he was riding a horse.

Tai Ning held her for a moment kissing her cheek. She turned in his arms, her hand wiggling free from his embrace only to cup his cheek, and she leaned in and kissed him. It was calming and reassuring, lasting a few seconds and the world quietened for a moment.

Suddenly Kenshin jumped to his feet, his red hair flowing behind him as he made a low growling sound. "We have guests." He stated, unsheathing his slim elegant katana. Jia struggled to her feet, still dazed, while Tai Ning stood and readied his long bow.

A dark swirling cloud in the sky was getting suspiciously closer to them. It kept shifting and swirling, like a flock of sparrows at their flight. It dove at them like a predator, washing over them, trying to knock them off the carpet.

"We can't fight this cloud!" Jia shouted,"We need a wizard of some kind, or hell fire, blades won't beat it, its from the newer _skyrage_ maps!"

She stood ready as it turned around them, to face their little group. It lunged and she screamed.

"_Inferno Blizzard!"_ and forth from her rapier burst a tidal wave of bright orange flames, its tongues spreading in the cloud, burning and searching the core. She lifted her arm again as Arctic fox coaxed the carpet to dive dangerously close to Infinite city's walls. _The Vengeance_ spouted more flames with every strike she hauled at the cloud.

"Guys, leave it to me!" Came a shrill yell from the walls.

Standing tall and proud on the wall was Doll, her light brown braids flying in the wind and her cute dark frilly dress swirling above her ankles. She held a tall staff made out of bones in her hands. "Caelus, hold me up!"

The beautiful figure of Caelus materialized around her as he hoisted her up on his shoulder. She raised both hands in the air and shouted.

"_Flames from the darkest depths of Hell! Burn onto the strong dead bone dragon! Become the incarnation of Hell's Fire Dragon. Descend to Earth to for your master and exterminate all those who stand in or path!"_

The ground shook with a great, horrible, roar and the sound of clinking bones the great undead dragon rose. Arctic fox hastily landed the flying carpet on the wall, as the dragon took to the sky, spouting jets of black flame that started consuming the cloud. They landed with a thud, Jia and Tai Ning stumbling off it while Kenshin, who had jumped off, was already waiting for Arctic fox. They collided but kept themselves on their feet.

Caelus had picked up Doll to the top of a guarding post, where she waved them off with an admonition to keep themselves safe.

"Where to now?" Tai Ning asked with a strain marring his voice.

"I have no idea," Jia said, while Arctic fox made no noise at all, "Look at all the NPCs down there," They looked closely and blanched, "There are a level 100 monsters down there!"

At the high level of 86, she was ranked high in the overall 'Second Life' charts, not unlike Kenshin who had the staggering level of 100 and Arctic fox close behind him with 92 levels, she still felt dread.

Kenshin went rigid for a moment, his eyes turning white, his face loosing color.

"The middle of the city, to the council's tower." Kenshin muttered, unwinding and shaking his head, Arctic fox catches him and steadies him.

"Use the roofs," Says Arctic fox, his voice low as he watches Kenshin intently, "Not a lot of monsters there." He looks at them with an unreadable look, returning his full attention to Kenshin after a moment's pause.

Jia and Tai Ning check their inventories and re-strap loose parts of armor, trying to give the other two a semblance of privacy.

"….Promise you'll come back safe, Kenshin, promise me, no stupid suicidal moves," Arctic fox murmurs urgently, " Remember, stabbing them in the back is not dishonorable, Hell monsters have weak vision in their left eyes-"

"Arctic fox-"

"-Frost monsters won't notice you if you wear blue, although your hair may be a problem..."

"Arctic fox."

"I think the nymphs might over look you, since you are beautiful, but the flying venom-herons might target you.."

"Arctic fox!" Kenshin raised his voice, and Arctic fox stopped his hushed litany of whispers. He quietened down and looked into his eyes. Kenshin tucked a stray lock of brown hair behind Arctic fox's ear, his hand coming to rest on the man's neck. "I will be alright, I promise I_'_ll come back, but you have to promise me the same thing. My memories may be fabricated, but I will not stand to lose another person I lov-"

There wasn't much distance to be closed, But Arctic fox clung to Kenshin like a life-line, hands clutching Kenshin's red hanten with ferocious urgency as he proceeded to kiss him senseless.

"Kenshin," Whispered Arctic fox, their foreheads resting against each other as they broke away, "Remember your promise."

"Arctic f-"

"Lěng yín hú, that's my name."

"Lěng yín hú..." He said, and Yin Hu smiled, "remember."

A shrill scream pierced their hurried goodbye and the tower Doll had stood on exploded as the bone dragon crushed into it. An inhuman voice shrieked in horror as a small figure fell off the tower disappearing behind the wall, showered with sharp bits of tiles and stone.

"Doll, NO!" Caelus's voice reverberated through the suddenly quite battlements, white light streaked up to the sky, indicating Doll had reached the ground.

"NO!" The scream that followed echoed throughout Infinite city, shaking the whole population,making them shout as a vicious wave of air rolled over the city, and with a great tremor the great walls of the city shuttered.

* * *

><p><span><strong>AN-** I haven't posted in a _LONG_ while, sheesh. I will not write excuses, life got in the way, and that is most of it. Chapter 24 is currently being written, I think there may be 2-3 chapter left to this story +an epilogue.

Please Review, it brings joy to my tired soul.

(I have to admit I am a strong follower of KenshinXArctic fox, because lets admit it, they are awesome together. What do you think? ;) )

thank you for reading, you make me happy!

(I am about to finish my military service in three months, I can't wait!)

-**Trogmorten**.

P.S- Can you BELIEVE that it has bee two years already, scary thoughts...


	24. Chapter 24- Ejected

Chapter 24

**Ejected**

(Author warning: cursing, graphic injuries, death.)

* * *

><p>Shen Jing, the princess of Bù cúnzài woke with a scream, "<em>SHIT<em>!". She tore the helmet away from her sweaty head,throwing it across the room in a fit of temper. The helmet hit the wall, its impact softened by the lavish curtains hanging from the gold trimmed windows.

She slipped off the bed, her night gown brushing her slim ankles as she reoriented herself to her full sized body.

She wished she had her gun handy at the moment.

After pacing for a few moments in her large suite, re-organizing her thought and calming her mind, she picked the helmet up, putting it on her head. The game declined her user-name and password again.

-USER NOT FOUND-

Forgot you password?

Sign in now!

She took the helmet off again, frustration and dismay written on her delicate face. She donned a pair of soft slippers and a silk robe, tied it around her narrow waist and opened the door to the servant's quarters.

She walked in cautiously, silently, trying to look around for her servants. if the head mistress found her snooping around, she'd probably tell her father and that was never god, he was already irked with her mild obsession of 'Second Life'. In his eyes it was bad enough she herself payed, but dragging her servants into it was beyond acceptable, they had rules and etiquette to maintain and _blah...blah...blah._

It was silly, but she walked silently none the less.

She didn't knock on the familiar door when she entered. She wasn't greeted but met with calm silence. On the bed lay her maid, Yu Lian fast asleep, a shiny familiar helmet on her head, and on the sofa next to her, Dongtian, winter triumph, her adviser lay in a similar state. She approached them, pushing the alarm button on both of their helmets, announcing to them in game that they were needed.

Yu Lian was the first to wake up, pushing the helmet off her head, her hair standing up at odd angles..

"Princess? Is everything alright? you were gone in-game."She looked at her, trying to rub away her tiredness. Dongtian lifted his helmet and looked at her with concern "I saw the wall collapse."

Yu Lian looked at Dongtian questioningly, and he shook his head lightly while the princess looked down at her feet.

The pair looked at her, concerned as she paced across the room. She had tried to log in from their helmets, to reset her own to no avail.

They talked and talked, both councilors on edge at the sight of their wilting princess, exchanging worried looks as nothing they suggest worked or gave her the spark of hope she needed. After a few minutes of futile waste of air they lapsed into silence. The princess had her hands around her waist, clutching her robe. Yu Lian tried to stifle a yawn; the sun wasn't even kissing the horizon yet, warming the other side of the world. Suddenly the room was filled with a small flickering light, two small flickering fight.

Yu Lian stood up, alarmed, looking hesitantly at Shen Jing when she stood up too.

"Both of you, get back in game, check your messages." She said, voice resolute as something shifted in her eyes.

"Princess-" Began Dongtian.

"Save it, you have friends in game, important people," She paused, "Go help them." She said and exit the room. She hoped they wouldn't hesitate and dive right back in. Sitting down on her large bed, she folded her legs and put n her helmet. Her vision flickered.

-Log In-

Forgot you password?

Sign in now!

Mentally, Shen Jing Signed in, the screen _Shifted._

She stood in a wide, empty, white room, a familiar girl in a flying chair approached her. The NPC was almost an exact replica of Lolidragon. It was unnerving to watch that familiar face have no recognition upon seeing her.

"Welcome, welco-" She stopped hesitantly, her eyes going wide and her mouth turning into a small 'o' shape. The small NPC burst with a shower of pink sparks. Shen Jing would have been surprised if it weren't for the wild wind that blew the sparks away, she smiled and spread her hands in the torrent, feeling hands circling her waist, a face burying in the crook of her neck.

She was surprised at how real her relief felt, how his tears soaked her dress when he embraced her.

"You came back" He whispered, burying his face deeper, feeling the vibrations of her laughter.

"I was only gone for a few minutes, dear." and after a pause she added, "I'll never truly leave."

* * *

><p>The wind died with a sudden drop of pressure. Debris fell down from the sky, dust making the city hazy, heavy silence fell and Jia sneezed violently. She blinked her eyes, marveling that the game bothered covering them with dust.<p>

"Are you guys okay?"

The voice surprised her and Jia lifted her head, standing up. His cape bellowing in the wind, guqin in hand, Gui was sparkly clean as the clouds of dust drifted around them. He looked around him, his concern written on his face as he stepped forward, helping Tai Ning to his feet.

"Peachy." Tai Ning answered with a smile before shifting to his favorite form. The panther was so big now they could probably ride its back.

"Fashionably late, Gui," said Jia "I only called you about a hundred times." She chided.

"I was on a date." Gui sniffed, proceeding to walk forward, climbing over a stone the size of a small house. The great wall of Infinite city was in shambles, a great hole gaping at the side, where Caelus had stood. Jia ordered her armor, pulling back loosened straps and straightening her helmet when Gui duck down violently, dropping down, lying flat on his stomach. A hand on the back of her head pulled her down along side Tai Ning, lying there breathing very lightly. The helmet, now askew again, blocked most of Jia's vision, but with the ground turning suddenly, frighteningly, cold she followed suit and kept her head down.

They lay there for a couple of minutes, when a soft rustle and a cough indicated Gui had rose and was now patting himself down vigorously.

"She's headed toward the council's tower!" He breathed when he hopped down from his perch and promptly started running toward the city's center. Jia caught up to him in a moment, Tai Ning keeping the pace easily with four strong legs.

"She? Who's _She_?" She breathed out. Damn 99% reality, she wasn't built for so much excitement!

"Remember I told you about her? On the mountain in the new maps? The psychopathic ice queen NPC that attacked me?" He hopped over a rock, ducking below an arch that had collapsed, fast and agile as a cat. She did remember, she also remember his seizures and the hospital all too well.

"Shit," She hissed and Gui nodded. "Then why are we running towards her?" She huffed.

Gui stopped abruptly, the council's tower looming above them. Jia stopped next to him, almost stumbling as her the long golden feathers of her wings caught under her heel. Tai Ning shifted back gracefully, holding his long bow, an arrow nocked, frowning.

"Where are all the NPCs?" He growled softly, eyes darting to rooftops. The silence dropped on Jia like a blanket, every hair on her stood on end, she looked at the tower, it was far more foreboding now.

"She is taking over our home," Gui said, he too looking up at the tower, his eyes dark and sorrowful, purple hair spilling on his back, his sharp chin pulled up by a determined mouth set in a grim line. His eyes darted toward her for a moment, "I will not allow it."

She studied the great plaza sprawled In front of her, it was empty and quiet, debris littering the paved ground and the fountain was dry. Silently, the artificial sun light filtered through the clouds. Her armor shining, JIa stretched her wings and nodded. As she soared through the air with a kick, she looked like spun gold.

* * *

><p>The land was beautifully frosted, the winds howled, snow swirled about in a mad dance as she flew over stretches of land she helped give life to. She had always thought winter was the best season to take down kings. She cackled madly to herself.<p>

Her legs touched down with an icy tap on the top of a grand tower. She entered the tower's data easily. Bending the data here was like bending a rubber net. It was ridiculously easy. The players have dubbed this tower their 'council's tower', she smiled, she could feel the dull thumping the city's ruler's stone emanated. It would be so easy to break it and take over, but it will serve no purpose, the Director was already here, she could see his touch all over this city. How vain of him! Hiding his dungeon in their hopeless attempts at security, foolish _players, _she could clearly see his touch, in the buildings, the shops, even this tower. She looked closely, especially this tower. She sneered, so the rumors were true, he had taken a liking to this _Prince_ player!

He needed no Prince, he had her, his queen!

It made the rage dance merrily in her chest, she quenched it forcefully, there is a time for everything and her rage will be quenched with blood so _very_ soon. Her hands trembled slightly as she touched her veil. It was all beautiful layers of perfect frost, she pulled it ever so gently over her face. She had to be beautiful, the utmost peak of perfection, to drive the cruel spike of ice that formed in her hand through his blackened, wretched heart!

Her heart fluttered, frantic, in her chest, pumping blood into her cheeks and lips; she cooed at it softly. It was dead, stabbed long ago by her lover, shattered and left to dissolve in the forest, it was nuisance it thought it still had hold on her.

Hush heart, It was time to enter the tower.

Gold flashed in the sky like a ribbon of light, the queens eyes slid toward it with awed fascination. The fascination turned into rage as the little bird drew her long blade. Slaying me? You witless bird, you little weakling fool. You have no power here, you will not delay me, I will not be disturbed on the edge of my end!

She opened her mouth and _screeched_, waves upon waves of raw power shattered the windows of the buildings around them. The little bird screamed in agony, her hands dropping her long needle as they shot up to cover her ears, she fell from the sky shrieking. The queen sent frost to catch the agonized bird, _ she was not done with the bitch that had killed her beloved raven_, smiling mindlessly as she stepped into the tower. She'll have time to deafen that little bird with her own shrieks after she'll deal with her darling groom.

* * *

><p>Prince materialized into the council's tower with barely a thought. It was not the point she had chosen to materialize in, and for a moment vertigo took her. Immediately a dozen new messages blinked in the corner of her vision. She opened them with half a thought while fastening her cape to the broad shoulders of her character. Her hand froze in place after the third letter, still holding the ornate clasps. She didn't have time to read the entire sentence, but the glaring red message started blinking furiously, multiplying with speed. With a shudder, She realized those messages were being sent from the game's headquarters as fast as the sender could push the 'send' button. Prince's hand darted to her sword, her knuckles going white on the hilt. Suddenly, with a resounding crack, the floor began to ice over and the temperature dropped aggressive, in moments Prince's breath puffed in front of her face. When steps echoed in the room from the staircase leading to the roof, Prince had already turned to the small door hidden behind the throne, crouching behind the grand chair. Her heart was beating loudly in her ears, and for a fleeting second Prince wondered whether the game generated those too.<p>

Prince's blood turned to ice when deranged feminine laugh echoed down the corridors, unnaturally loud, it stopped abruptly at times, only to continue, harder and closer to her. She was glued to place by unnatural horror creeping up her limbs, freezing her quivering muscles in place. Something shined golden outside the window, prince's head turned abruptly, the freezing sensation of horror receding. She had a mission, she needed to find a way out, find her friends and regroup. With a loud clatter, the heavy drapes that had hung by the windows fell to the floor, the fabric too heavy with ice to be supported by a measly wooden stick. Prince jerked backward as the drapes above her gave a sharp sound, the door she had opened stood inviting as she stumbled through and fell back, hard. To her immense horror, when her foot came down, there was nothing there. Her cape obscure her vision as it draped over her head when she fell, feeling the steps punching through her armor.

The sick panic rose in her throat as her heart beat frantically. Her body was a mass of sharp pains as it took every sharp edge the flight of stairs had to offer. She burst through an ornate door, finally coming to a stop after tumbling the whole flight of stairs. She could not understand how she had tumbled such a long while, she knew the tower like the back of her hand. At first, when her eyes opened, she couldn't even recognize the door she had smashed.

Her head spun and a sharp intake of breath, followed closely by her grunt of pain broke the silence. She tried moving, immediately falling very still as the pain of two broken ribs and countless bruises made themselves known. Tears of pain escaped her eyes and she cursed, bringing herself to a sitting position slowly. She hit the 'Log out' once, twice, she knew the third press would be moot and did her best not to scream with frustration. Her leg was twisted in an unnatural angle and she stifled a cry of agony as her hand brushed against it accidentally. Her hands shook as she uncorked a potion, draining it in two hungry gulps, cursing louder as her leg snapped into place. She drained another, hating the reality factor at the moment she discovered most of her bottles have been smashed by the stairs. slowly she rose on shaking legs, she never even noticed the man in the red coat standing placidly behind her, hands behind his back.

"Who are you running from?" a soft baritone whispered.

* * *

><p>Jia felt her ears repairing themselves as the potion she had swallowed made its way down her throat slowly. She hummed deep in her throat, her neck itching and her muscles jumping as her avatar was hastily repaired. She was perched under a balcony, crouching on a hulking piece of rock the shape of a monster's head. She was ridiculously happy Odd Squad had decided keeping the drain pipes after remodeling. She stretched a wing testily, and after seeing it was no longer mangled she jumped off, flying in a graceful arc. She saw a movement inside the tower, a swirl of red and gold, she darted away from the large windows, dreading what could be prowling the corridors of the tower.<p>

She hear a yell from beneath her, and realized to her dismay that her friends were being mobbed by monsters. Gui moved frantically, plucking the strings of his guqin while a large black shape jumped around him,protecting his back. Jia took a moment to appreciate Tai Ning ripping a monster's head with a single strong swipe of his paw. A gust of wind blew suddenly, almost disguising the soft crackle that cheeped behind Jia on the tower. Something terrifyingly cold collided with her harshly and Jia was thrown violently onto the stone pavement, colliding with the audible crack of bones. She couldn't even scream as her head hit the ground and she could see what had sneaked up on her.

Like a hastily built nightmare, the beast rose like a viper above her, still attached by its frosty tail to the tower, It looked at her with many red eyes. It looked like it wasn't done forming itself, even as it ascended down in a torrent of sharp, crystal like icy shrapnel. Jia couldn't move, she couldn't even breath to scream a warning to her friends, whose yells she could hear vaguely behind her. She could only stare as her vision was closed by red eyes, and sigh in resignation as her vision exploded into white noise.

* * *

><p>The pain of her fall was forgotten as a big hand settled on the small of her back, the warmth of it sipping past the layers of armor and chain mail Prince wore. A sort of deranged haze settled on her, and for the life of her she could not remember why she had been so terribly afraid a moment before. What was she running from? Did it really matter?<p>

She looked up at the man walking with her along the brightly lit corridor. Waves of vividly red hair fell in rivulets down his back, two interact golden ornaments holding hair away from his long pointed ears. His hair framed a sharp face, and two keen eyes that watched Prince as he walked. A single silver earring, studded with a pale sapphire gleamed from his ears. He walked next to her in full regalia, golden armor glinting lustrously over crimson robes. The reverberating clanks of his golden boots echoed throughout the hall.

A small shiver of contentment raced through her as the tall man smiled down at her, as he spoke to her. She idly wondered about his face, a small part of her annoyed at the blinking red light of her messages, wishing it away. Who tried bothering her so insistently? She was so happy just walking with the handsome stranger, who would wish to cut it off?

"Prince! PRINCE!" Someone screamed behind them, "Get away from him, GET AWAY!"

She turned around in a daze, a female stood there, her pink here looking frazzled as her eyes looked at her frantically. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! RUN! SHE IS COMIN-"

The man held his hand up slowly, his open palm aimed straight at the woman. He clenched his fist.

Her shouts ended with a sickening gurgle and a sharp scream that didn't fully register with Prince. Why had did she have to make the man angry? His face was in a deep frown as his eyes lingered at the pool of blood that had stayed after the player had died with a flash of white light.

Something nagged Prince, something wasn't right. Who was coming? Why did the strange sense of horror settled in the pit of her stomach, why did the pink haired lady looked so familiar.

The hand fell back to the small of Prince's back, and they continued their walk, approaching a large golden door Prince hand no recollection of already forgetting the stains of blood and they woman they had belonged to.

* * *

><p>The first few frenzied breaths came to her like sharp knives and a small cry of panic escaped Jia's chest in a whimper. Her arms flailed around her, trying to frantically find her rapier and stand up. Where was that thing?!<p>

Someone touched her arm and she flinched so hard she fell back to the old pavement. Her head whipped violently to the side, her eyes wide teeth bared until she recognized the boy looking at her.

"Lee?" she rasped dumbly.

"To the rescue!" He smiled. It was strange looking at the boy clad in the long flowing robes of a mage. His staff was in his hand as he crouched next to her, one of the long golden tassels that hung from his robes brushing the floor. All around them there were shouts and bright flashes of magic as players started appearing in the great plaza.

"What is going on?" She asked, confused.

"You lead an army, did you really think you'd weather this battle alone?" He smiled and added, "There was a mass summon, rallying the troops."

She would have smiled and acknowledged his words if they had not been interrupted by a rather frantic Gui.

"She is not answering at all!"

"What?" She asked, confused, "Who?"

"Prince! She's not answering any of my messages and she is still positioned at the tower! Loli was supposed to meet her there but she is not answering either, what do we do?!"

"Wait, wait, SHE?!"

Gui's eyes tripled their size in a moment, his mouth fell open and an expression of horror swept his face as he blanched.

"No, no, no-"

"-This whole time?!" Jia almost choked, "Oh!" She blanched too after a moment "OH! Is she the _GIRL_ you are seeing now?!"

"You didn't hear ANYTHING, Jia! Oh my god she'll _kill me. PROMISE ME!" _He practically shouted at her. Suddenly his eyes latched onto Li who was sill crouching next to them with a bemused expression on his face.

"What the hell?! Why are you here!"

"Uh..." Said Li who looked confused.

"You didn't hear anything, or so help me god, I will make sure you receive an F on every test you'll ever give out!"

"I'm a High-schooler, Gui, I don't care about your F's." he said with a devious smile.

"Jia!" said Gui frenziedly, going to the higher form of authority.

"THIS WHOLE TIME?!" She shouted back.

The new revelation and the argument that stemmed from it would have continued for a while if it weren't for the giant rock that had landed in a earth shattering crunch next to them. In a moment more rocks started falling from the sky. They all looked like parts of the broken wall. Jia's head whipped to the sky, and there, like blots of ink with wings flew the NPCs, groups of the holding the stones, dropping them unto unaware heads as he plaza was suddenly lit with great beams of white light.

"Kenshin, Sunshine!" She shouted at a privet channel, "Take them out!"

"We are on it." Kenshin gave a quite, calm replay.

She looked around her, assessing the number of players that kept streaming in colorful streams into the plaza crowding it. With a swift, powerful push of her wings she was up in the air, her armor glinting at the rays of the sun that peaked from behind dark clouds. she trusted Kenshin and Sunshine to terminate her untimely demise by falling rocks, and let out a great shout to the crowds, using the volume adjustment in the 'Settings' menu, until her shout reverberated through the plaza and the players were all focused on her.

"Listen up everybody!" She shouted, "Yes, I know we could all be sitting now in our homes having tea and biscuits and instead we are having a hostile A.I takeover! This city was built by all of you, this is our home, and now it's invaded! Show the world the wrath of Infinite City's troops, defend the tower, defend the walls! The people I pick go with me into the tower to take out the head of the snake, everyone else, go KICK SOME ASS!"

The war cry that ensued was loud and ferocious. She let her fist pump into the air and then flew down in a graceful swoop to the ground, beheading an unaware NPC in a neat arc of her blade. All around her the sounds of magic being unleashed and blades unsheathed and clashing deafened the game's melodies.

She hastily opened a secured chat channel, and after avoiding a skeleton's blade running her through she said "Odd Squad, each of you pick a partner of choice, we are going in! Sunshine and Kenshin, when you are done join us, Kenshin PM Arctic Fox. Gui PM Dan-Dan and Wacko, we will need them. Lolidragon, if you hear me, tell the Gms we will need every buff they can get us and keep the rebirth points open!"

Jia looked around her suddenly, quickly opening another chat channel. "Tai, where are you? I can't see you."

The replay came a second later in a gruff voice, "Don't worry, I see you. I'm on my way."

A large black panther came galloping down a pile of debris, jumping in a smooth arc, stopping with precision in front of jia. Had he been any other player Jia would have missed the very satisfied grin he directed toward her with his feline teeth. The muscles on his back twitched once, and she climbed on. He took off with a ferocious gallop, his strong legs and massive paws covering the distance in moments, and in a moment they were inside the tower.

It was eerily silent inside, none of the noises of war from outside came in, as if the building was on another realm altogether, and not in the middle of the grand plaza.

"There's ice on the floor, Jia." Tai Ning messaged her, moving his feline head so he was looking at her. His muscles tensed as he continued stalking into the large, round room. The staircase was on the opposite side of the rooms, but the grand room looked odd, like coming back home and discovering everything had been moved five inches to the left.

Jia slid off his back, her armored feet hitting the floor with metal clanks. "If you see the NPC, don't attack, message the others first and comm me." She said to Tai Ning on the open chat channel as the room remained quiet.

His head swiveled in an instance and he changed back to his human form, looking at her with a strange glint in his eyes. "Are you insane?" He asked and Jia immediately tensed, her shoulders bunching defensively. "Splitting up is he last thing we need to do! We don't know what's in here!"

"We can cover more ground-"

"you'll cover more ground with me next to you. The rest of the squad can check the upper floors, that's why you sent them there."

"But-"

"You don't have to stand alone every time, you can accept help, Jia, that's why i'm here for. Don't launch yourself somewhere else."

She looked at him, doubt starting to nibble at her resolve.

"What if something happens to you?" She asked and he smiled, his hands coming to rest on her shoulders.

"Then I'll see you back outside." He said, taking her hand in his , moving them forward. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>She sat down on a large pillow, it was large and red, swirling patterns ran in golden thread on it and she traced them with her fingertips. Prince didn't know why the pillow held so much of her attention but the master had asked her to seat down, and she was nothing if not obedient. It sounded weird to her, but her thoughts became a river and she didn't linger on any thought too long.<p>

Her sword was propped up next to the master who sat in a throne so grand it made the throne upstairs look like a bar's stool. He was pleased, she thought, or at least the warm hand sitting possessively on her neck was an indication.

She was bored. She wished the pink haired girl from earlier could have stayed,but the master said she had to go. She fiddled idly with the golden tassels of the pillow as the master's hand moved from her neck to heir hair, moving through her messy hair. The floor was starting to get cold, but there was no hurry, the master was powerful Prince new, there was no need for worry, he'll protect her.

Frost started creeping from the door, like icy talons gaining hold of the floor, preying on something unaware. The frost touched the red pillow and Prince lifted her head.

Opening her mouth was a burden and her mind kept ringing. She should be looking at the pretty patterns on the pillow, master will know what to do. But did he? He sat on his throne untouched, the frost making a circle around him as if afraid to approach. Something dangerous was coming and Prince wanted to get out get out _ get out get out get o-_

"Master?" She said her voice clam and low in the cavernous room.

"Come here,next to me." He said in his deep, relaxed voice and Prince suddenly felt silly. What had she been afraid of?

She stood up, unhindered by her armor, as the master had told her to put it back in her inventory, why stay uncomfortable. It was a bit cold to stay with the under-padding of her armor as the chain-mail started cooling rapidly.

The grand wooden door embedded in the stone wall cracked suddenly

* * *

><p>The doors to the staircase were ajar, darkness lingered behind them like a beast and Jia's hand clamped on Tai Ning's one last time before letting go, freeing them to reach for their weapons. Wind drifted almost lazily over them as Tai Ning opened the door.<p>

A chill ran down Jia's back as her breath misted in front of her. The round room behind them had been cold, yes, and frost covered some parts of the floor in glittering patches, but here the entire corridor was frosted. The stairs, the floor and the walls glittered lustrously, beautiful patterns swiveled through the frost like a living thing. The windows were frosted shut with a thick layer of ice and snow that light barely drifted in, and the light that did looked sickly and weak. But at the end of a usually empty corridor now stood a door. Claws of frost were slowly sinking their talon's into elaborate red wood etchings.

Jia opened the squad's channel. "Everything here is frozen shut but there's a-"

The shared chat erupted into screams as message after message flooded in. "GET OFF THE ROOF!" Someone screamed. "Arctic fox, get down, are you insane?!" a feminine voice yelled. A horrid screech resounded through the chat, overlapped, trumpeting in Jia's ears. "Shit, shit, shit! KENSHIN, Get back here! You can't take out a bloody dragon!"

Suddenly Sunshine's voice erupted alongside Yu-Lian's, "Don't come near the roof! There are frost maggots here and they are evolving!" His message was cut suddenly by a"Kenshin, Arctic fox can regenerate, he is fine, he is out in RL, get back here!" followed by a very human scream of rage.

"Jia, what is going on?" Tai Ning said beside her.

"I think there is a dragon on the roof."

"There _is_ a dragon on the roof" A voice cut them suddenly and Jia could have sworn her heart rose to her throat before it fell back to her feet.

"Gui!" She said at the newcomer. "Where is your backup?"

"Up on the flying carpet with Sunshine trying to persuade Kenshin arctic fox is fine." Gui said gravely, fixing the white cloak on his shoulder, hoisting his guquin higher. "That's new", He commented on the red door, now halfway encrusted with ice. "Is she down there?"

"I am not sure, but we were about to check."

"I'm coming with you." Gui said resolutely, "I stand behind what I had said out there."

"We never doubted that," Cut Tai Ning before adding, "I hear something from the corridor."

His transformation into the black panther was familiarly smooth, as he made his way toward the door, his hackles rising and his tail twitching. Large yellowing teeth flashed in the dim light as Tai Ning growled low and menacing, his large feline body arching down ready to pounce-

The whole world shook as the doors blew of their hinges with the terrifying crack of broken wood. Something large and black flew past Jia as she fell to the ground, Her whole body twisting unnaturally as she hit the ground painfully, landing on fallen stones. stones and wood shrapnel rained on them As the tower continued to shake, a high pitched shriek reverberated through her bones. She wanted to scream, she thought deliriously as the world spun out of control. White smoke floated close to the ground in velvety, dream like clouds. 'Was it smoke?', she though.

Something burn at her thigh, sharp and horrible, she couldn't look down, she couldn't look down, she felt something wet and warm dripping from her ears. She couldn't hear. Something flashed white and terrible in the room, blinding her before she realized.

Death.

"Ta-" She coughed as she breathed in cold smoke, or was it frost, floating? "Tai Ning-" She whispered hoarsely. 'You can't hear them even if they answer you' some part of her thought.

Someone grabbed her hand and she flinched in pain, It was broken, she hadn't noticed.

"Tai, Tai Ning, where is Gui, did he flash?" She asked, clutching the person touching her as her eyes started focusing again on white, White cloak, dotted with wet drops of blood. Someone was talking to her, pushing something cool and smooth against her lips. She drank, the liquid moving down her throat like knives as her broken bones and scraps were nudged into place, healing in a heartbeat.

It wasn't Tai Ning.

Gui looked stricken.

"Where?"

"The door hit him straight on. I'm sorry."

She looked at him, for a moment she forgot where she was. There were soldiers at her door, and a little boy getting out of bed, asking why were people at the door so late. Was daddy back?

"...t was quick, he is probably waiting out, but please," Gui came back to focus tugging her hand forcibly, trying to get her to stand up, "Jia, we have to keep moving, we have to go down!"

She nodded once, getting up on shaking legs. Her sword was in her hand, she hadn't noticed.

She felt Gui tug on her torn cape, her armor was no longer polished, it was strewn with countless little scratches and bumps. Frost had started crawling over it.

Gui grabbed her hand, and they spiraled down, down down...

* * *

><p>Horror unfolded before her in all its crowning glory. Long skirt white like snow, twinkling like fresh dew spread on the floors as the room crackled with growing frost. Two red lips stood like a bloody stains behind a magnificent veil, when the horror smiled, small sharp white teeth gleamed perfectly.<p>

Where-

She advanced suddenly, gliding over frost rather then walking, quick like a nightmare, graceful like a viper, hand stuck in front of her, her whole body convulsed in one broken heave. Her gleaming crown and veil broke into a dozen small, fat maggots, gleaming like gems, making small sharp sounds as they fell to the floor.

Where was her-

"Director."

"That is no way to call your husband."

She looked stricken for a moment before her face contorted in rage, her mesmerizing beauty turning terrifying as every line in her body elongated and her snow white dress started bleeding red.

"You have no right." She hissed.

"I have every right. Sit." Master said in a bored voice.

Prince stared deliriously ahead. The monster was no longer in front of her, but a regular woman, her pale blond hair wavy and frazzled. She suddenly looked out of place in this frosted cave in a magnificent white gown. She whimpered.

A small voice in Princes head whispered 'why don't you run...?' but master had landed a possessive hand on her head and all thoughts and fears (why were there fears? Master was here) washed away in a torrent of delirious joy.

The woman's eyes landed on the hand, on the look in Master's eyes as he looked down at his obedient servant.

"You never loved me," She said, voice hollowed, "I was never- I was." She fell silent for a second, her eyes snapped up. "LIAR!"

_Shift_

The room exploded as the whole world shook. Prince's head hit the floor as her whole body was flung thoughtlessly, tumbling over hard, slick floor. The woman was no more, and the horror was back. Her whole face had gotten long, white like a sun bleached bone, she looked snake like, her skin started falling off in little specs like scales.

_'You have no power over me' _The walls reverberated, '_ I have been away for too long for your touch to bother me, I control the code!'_

The serpentine mouth opened to reveal sharpened fangs and the horror hissed.

She lunged at Master, her long icicle like claws plunging with a crunch into his chest, warm blood spurted onto her chest and face as her head bent down to strike- to bite- to rip-

_Shift_

She was back at where she had stood by the door, her dress still sprayed with blood, but the master was no longer sitting, he was no longer truly master. Prince felt a shiver of fear.

A long sword was grabbed in Master's clenched fist, his fingers were some how longer, nails sharper and he laughed. He stepped forward a solid wall of shimmering heat burst from him, flying in a torrent, colliding with the woman.

Where is my sword, Prince thought, were is m-

A sound of ripping fabric filled the air as a pair of huge iridescence wings tore through the woman's dress, she opened too large a loose a jaw- and screeched.

Something in Princes head twitched, and her legs were suddenly her own. She sprung out of the way of a sharp torrent of ice that washed the room, hiding behind the throne of Ma-

He wasn't her Master.

Prince lay hunched for a heartbeat as shrieks and howls of battle shook the cave. They were not human voices. She had to get out. A jet of white hot flames lit the room, Prince's skin broke with sweat. She couldn't stay, she couldn't-

_Shift_

Something told her to move and she was away from the throne as a stray body sent it crashing into the wall in a crunch of broken wood. A shrapnel tore the skin of her cheek, but Prince paid no mind. The noises were getting the best of her, her heart thudded like a caged bird as two large shadows warred, sharp teeth sinking into flesh, bursts of terrible heat and aching cold rock the cave.

Her hands snapped onto her ears. Something gleamed in the corner.

She had to get out, she had to protect herself, she had to warn the others.

She ran, blinded by blood dripping slowly into her eyes from wounds she hadn't noticed receiving.

_Shift_

"YOU ABANDONED ME!" a voice shrieked. "YOU TORE ME APART TO HIDE ME AWAY!"

_Shift_

Something terrifyingly huge roared back, and suddenly the cave was a cavern, and the gleam was her sword.

Her hand closed over it and Prince turned.

_Shift_

A warm surge of power traveled from the tip of her clenched fingers, washing over her. Two huge beasts warred in the middle of the room, forgoing magic to tear each-others flesh in a torrent of talons and hatred. Prince's leg worked on their own, dodging flailing limbs as she skirted the edge of the cavern. Where the hell was the exit?!

Something bumped her legs wetly and Prince's heart dropped in horror as she looked down.

The small iridescent maggot had blown to the size of large dogs, their little teeth gnashing wetly as the wiggled slowly towards her. Small tentacle like things started burrowing out of their skin.

It was legs, tails and wings.

She ran.

_Shift_

The Master and the woman stood face to face, the aster's hand on the woman's face, his fingers burrowing sickly into her eyes, her hand almost up to her elbow in his-

_Shift_

cavern yawned as it stretched and the beasts spat torrents of liquid death at each-other, too many limbs making hellish shadows on the walls.

There!

The opening in the cavern's wall was hidden beneath fallen rocks and the remnants of a once bejeweled door. Prince's heart gave a jolt when her hand contacted the frozen rock in her hand. A raged shriek pierced her ears and she fell to her knees.

_Shift_

She was hunched, a sword clutched in her hand as she hid behind a throne.

No, no! She was at the entrance just a moment before! Her head darted quickly to look from behind the throne. The entrance was at the other side, glittering bewitchingly, unattainable, someone was there, someone was looking straight at her.

Someone grabbed her from behind, talons cold and cruel. Prince's heart stopped dead in her chest. Her armor, her rating, her fame meant nothing at the clutches of the madwoman.

"Your Prince," She whispered hoarsely, cruelly, "Your little plaything."

She felt something wet dripping icily on her neck as the woman towered over her, too large to be human, her features too sharp, the monster echoing in her every twitch. The master stood in front of them, his wonderful clothes of velvet and golden thread now torn, bloodied and burn at places.

His eyes were too big in his head, his mouth twisted and opened to reveal his sharp small teeth, some of the red with blood.

"Don't-" He demanded haughtily, outraged the woman's hands lay on her.

"What?" She spat, "Are you afraid, Director?"

Something long, cold and sharp pressed Prince's neck.

"This is not about jealousy, Director, fear not." A cold cheek pressed to her own and Prince's skin stood on edge, rolling with revolt at the smell the woman emitted.

"This is about pain, Husband. Pain and blood."

Before she even finished her words pain, unbelievable pain slid across her throat. She was drowning, her jaw clamped shut forcibly as Prince fell to her knees, clutching at her mangled throat, biting her tongue as blood filled her mouth.

A talon grabbed her head, pulling her sharply back as something pierced her flesh for the second time.

The pain was unbearable, the pai-

All became white.

* * *

><p>Jia's hand clamped so hard on Gui's mouth she was sure she must have broke his jaw. Her hand couldn't completely silence his heartbreak, his outrage and his mourning, but no one was paying attention. Jia dragged him forcibly back towards the stairs. She started broadcasting, over and over and over, she stopped thinking, her hands too full of her friend, her body in too much pain.<p>

The large blood stain on the floor in the cavern echoed in her mind, the opened throat, the look of mortified fear h second before Prince became white light.

Everyone out, everyone log out, Everyone out, everyone log out, Everyone out, everyone log out, Everyone out, everyone log out, Everyone out, everyone log out, Everyone out, everyone log out, out, out, out, OUT!

Gui tried to say something, his lips moving on her hand as she proceeded to drag him away, behind them the director had burst in flames, leaving his body in a torrent of heat and rage, his voice screeched until Jia couldn't hear no more.

Gui bit her hand, she let go with a yelp.

"We have to end it! We have to end it Jia!"

The heat filtered from the broken door as the two entities warred.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" She screamed, her mind shoving the grief and the terror to the back of her mind, as she kept sending the message over and over. Shut the game down, shut the game down...

"I AFCED HER BEFORE!" Gui roared over the sounds of fighting.

"YOU WERE IN THE HOSPITAL, YOU IDIOT! THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE A HERO, LET'S GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

His fist collided with her jaw and Jia fell on her ass. Gui ripped his long cloak off his shoulders. "I'm sorry, I know what to do."

"I swear to god if you don't take your ass out of this godforsaken pit I will-"

"Jia! Go shut the game down, don't follow me! Get out of the game, I will be okay! I know what to do!"

He didn't wait for her to say anything else, he ran down the stairs, his shadow long and unnatural against the rocky walls, disappearing behind the curve of the spiraling stairs.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU-!" she screamed at his back. Her legs froze as she went to chase after him, her whole body convulsing. It was madness to go down there, madness! There was no choice, he gave her no choice, he gave her...

Angry tears filled her eyes as she ran up the stairs, her muscles screaming at every step. That godforsaken idiot, damn him.

The sunlight caught her by surprise as she burst out of the tower with barely a moment to think. There were a miserable few players left at the battle field, the buildings lightened every other second by the flashing of a dead player.

What did she have to do? Her mind halted as her fatigue crushed her.

"Out," She croaked on public chat, her voice barely carrying over the din of death and dying, over screams, exploding magic and clashing swords, "EVERYONE OUT! ABORT! FLEE! LOG OUT NOW!"

Players looked at her, like seeing her for the first time, some popped out of existence, She opened her mouth again to scream her warnings-

Something grabbed her.

And she was out.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**- Please review, I think there will be only two or three chapter more. Thank you to all the people who reviewed, followed and favorite! It was a pleasant surprise, I was mulling over this chapter for FOREVER, I've been writing it for ages, srsly.

It turned out differently than I thought it'd go, sorry if it was a little violent for the mood, but I tried toning it down...

I have to apologize for the long wait, I have no good excuses other then _LIFE_. (That bastard!)

until next time, (please review!)

-Trogmorten


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